Just a game?
by Teruul
Summary: Ichigo Kurosaki is a normal, hardworking student who plays "the World", a famous online RPG. One day, he is challenged by another player named Panthera. The challenge may leave him with everything a gamer could want, or it could take everything away. What will Ichigo do?
1. Chapter 1

**Just a game?**

**Chapter one – Info and Intro**

**Notice!**

**If you're not interested in reading about how this imaginary game of mine is constructed, skip this chapter! I'm only briefing you on how this game works, the main idea, etc, etc. So if you feel confident, move on to the next chapter. It can get difficult to understand the fanfiction, but it's up to you :)**

Requirements for "the World"!

The game will take up 25 GB of the hard drive. The game is played on a PC, and requires network.

The game can be purchased from most game stores. Upon buying the game, the buyer gets an emulator, which will allow the player to really experience the game, to hear and see everything from the view of their characters, and to speak with other players.

Info about "the World"!

The game known as "the World" is the world's largest and most popular online fantasy RPG (role-playing game) consisting of 50 different servers and over 50 million players.

The players can choose between two factions, the Light side and the Dark side. The main idea of the game is to level your character up to 50, complete long quests, gather teammates to clear dungeon with, kill bosses and collect gear, weapons and abilities, and compete against the enemy faction using the PvP-system (Player versus Player).

A player can choose wether to speak or chat in-game. For example, advertising an object for sale is best announced in the local chat, while communicating with friends is best enjoyed by speaking.

There are some faction differences, and those, among other stuff like rules of the game, map of the World, will be explained here.

Creating your character!

This step is voluntary; You can download a picture of yourself into the game. This will automatically change the appearance of your characters to resemble you. If you don't use a picture, you will make your characters yourself, free to design their looks however you like.

Step one; Choose a server. There are two kinds of servers; PvP or PvM (Player versus Monsters). There are a few differences between them, but I'm too lazy to explain them. (Not important in this story!)

Step two; You choose which faction you want to play by, the Light or the Dark side.

Step three; You choose your race. There are different choices depending on which faction your choose. They are listed bellow.

Races available for those who play by the Light side;

Human

Dwarf

Celestian

Hybrid* (player may choose either a canine animal or bird.)

*A hybrid is half human, half animal. For example, in "the World", if you play as a Wolf hybrid, you look like a human, but you have the ears and tails of a wolf.)

Races available for those who play by the Dark side;

Dark Elf

Hellspawn

Living dead

Hybrid (player may choose either a feline animal or fox.)

There exist a few more races, but those are only shared as prizes in competitions or special events. Such races can be played at both factions. Examples of these rare races are;

Fallen Angel (Black wings, ability to fly. Increased spell power and spell resistance.)

Werewolf (Can transform into a wolf. Increased attack power.)

Nymph (Additional abilities such as Earthquake, Tsunami and Blizzard.)

Step four; Selecting your class. Each class can be played at each race, but there are some differences in classes between the Light side and the Dark side. They are listed below.

Classes available for those who play by the Light side;

Brawler (Fighter; leather gear, fist weapons)

Warrior (Fighter/Tank; plate gear, swords or axes, and shields.)

Archer (Ranged; leather gear, bows and arrows. Can tame wild beasts.)

Mage (Ranged; cloth gear, staves.)

Cleric (Ranged/Healer; cloth gear, staves or maces.)

Classes available for those who play by the Dark side;

Shapeshifter (Fighter/Tank; leather gear, fist weapons or spears.)

Warrior (Fighter/Tank; plate gear, swords or axes, and shields.)

Hunter (Ranged; leather gear, guns. Can tame wild beasts.)

Mage (Ranged; cloth gear, staves.)

Shaman (Ranged/Healer; cloth gear, staves or maces.)

Map of the World!

There are three large islands lined up in a neat row in the middle of the sea.

To the east, we have Rukongai. Capital city; Seireitei. Players of the Light side level up from 1-20 on this island before heading to La Garganta.

To the west, we have Hueco Mundo. Capital city; Las Noches. Players of the Dark side level up from 1-20 on this island before heading to La Garganta.

The capital cities are where the players gather to trade wares, chat with strangers, challenge players to duels, sell and buy goods, form teams for dungeons and train their classes.

Between these two islands lies La Garganta. Players from both factions come here to level from 20-50. It's the largest of the three islands, and it has three different climates; freezing cold, snow, blizzards and mountains to the north, raging storms and tornadoes, fields and forests in the middle, and scorching heat, sandstorms, deserts and barren steppes down south. On La Garganta, all players get to try more serious quests, and also experience PvP for the first time.

Dungeons of the World!

There are a few dungeons available on each island. Players must gather in groups of three or more to be able to take on the enemies that reside inside of these dungeons.

Dungeons in Rukongai;

Lair of Menos. Boss; Menos Grande. Dungeon level; 10-15. Dungeon difficulty; 3-5 players.

White Tower. Boss; Jidanbou. Dungeon level; 15-20. Dungeon difficulty; 3-5 players.

Dungeons in Hueco Mundo;

Menos Forest. Boss; Menos Grande. Dungeon level; 10-15. Dungeon difficulty; 3-5 players.

Desert Middle. Boss; Runuganga. Dungeon level; 15-20. Dungeon difficulty; 3-5 players.

Dungeons in La Garganta;

Bount Hideout. Boss; Kariya. Dungeon level; 20-30. Dungeon difficulty; 7-10 players.

Arrancar Castle

Consists of three dungeons; Castle Entrance, Castle Dungeon and Castle Throne. All together, the entire Arrancar Castle's dungeon level is 30-45.

Castle Entrance. Boss; Di Roy. Dungeon level; 30-35. Dungeon difficulty; 5 players.

Castle Dungeon. Boss; Yammy. Dungeon level; 35-40. Dungeon difficulty; 5 players.

Castle Throne. Boss; Barragan. Dungeon level; 40-45. Dungeon difficulty; 5 players.

Underground Laboratory. Boss; Mayuri and Aaroniero. Dungeon level; 50. Dungeon difficulty; 10 players.

Flame Forest. Boss; Kikou'ou. Dungeon level; 50. Dungeon difficulty; 10 players.

**Notice!**

**All dungeons which only require 5 players are also playable on hard mode, which raises the dungeon level to 50.**

Rules of "the World"!

Nr. 1 – If a gamer is caught hacking or cheating, the gamer will be immediately banned.

Nr. 2 – If a gamer is caught buying gold for the game from the internet, the gamer will be immediately banned.

Nr. 3 – Spam can lead to freezing of an account for a short period of time.

Nr. 4 – Racist comments and harassing will lead to a warning from the workers of the World.

Nr. 5 – Ignoring warnings may lead to freezing of an account for a short period of time.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

AN; _Lol, creating this game was so much fun! I hope you'll find it entertaining as well :3_


	2. The World

**Just a game?**

**Chapter two – the World**

**xxxxxxxxxx**

Ichigo was staring out the window, lost in deep thought. He was extremely bored and class had only just started. Their strict math teacher, Byakuya Kuchiki, had just informed the class they would continue working on advanced trigonometry, seeing as most of the students seemed to have difficulties with it. Ichigo, however, had already solved every equation in his mind that Kuchiki had given him. It was safe to say math was one of Ichigo's strongest subjects.

Ichigo Kurosaki had never been labeled as a nerd or a geek, even though he had never scored less than 95% in an exam. He was (in his own opinion) tall, around 5'9", slender but not without muscles. His light brown eyes were always narrowed in a scowl beneath his short, blazing orange hair. Said color had made Ichigo a subject for some intense teasing and rough bullying up until his first year in Karakura University, where he'd surprised everybody by showing up at the University Fighting Tournament with a black belt in karate. With the grace and speed of a feline and the strength of a brute, Ichigo had taken third place. After that, people mostly kept their distance from him.

_Not that he complained, though._

Ichigo enjoyed his alone time. Sure, sometimes he would let his friends, mostly Shinji, take him out for drinks or to a club, but he preferred spending time in his room with a book or on a walk late at night. Alone.

Ichigo leaned back in his chair and sighed loudly. _Oh, the pain of having to waste his time stuck in this narrow, boring-as-hell classroom with that stuck-up son of a..._

"Kurosaki-san."

The voice brought him back to reality. He lifted his head and noticed Kuchiki was standing right next to him, looking very displeased.

"As boring as you might find my class, Kurosaki-san, your behavior is disturbing the rest of the students," Kuchiki frowned and pushed his glasses a little higher on his nose. "And disturbance in my class will lead to detention."

"I beg your pardon, Kuchiki-sama," Ichigo said, unable to keep the stain of sarcasm from coating the teacher's name. "I assure you it won't happen again."

Kuchiki's eyes narrowed slightly, but he turned around and returned to his place in front of the blackboard.

Ichigo heard a snort to his right and turned his attention to Shinji, who was grinning at him. Ichigo had learned Shinji was very easy to please, a sarcastic comment or a bad joke was enough to make him laugh, or at least grin widely.

Ichigo flashed him a quick smirk before returning to stare out the window.

Ichigo had met Shinji Hirako when they were eleven. They'd gone to the same school, but they'd never really hit it off. One day though, Ichigo had noticed Shinji was surrounded by a bunch of guys in the far corner of the schoolyard. He'd only watched from afar, and when one of the guys started taunting Shinji, the blonde had punched him straight in the face. Ichigo had been stunned by his bravery. Surrounded by six guys, and Shinji had attacked without hesitation. When the other guys made their move, Ichigo had sprinted forward and joined the battle. Like they would've been best friends since birth, Shinji and Ichigo fought off the bullies together. They were beat up pretty bad and they had connected while waiting outside the principal's office. When Ichigo had asked why those guys had ambushed him, Shinji had just shrugged and told him it was because he was gay. Ichigo had been so shocked and enraged he had started following Shinji around like a guard dog, and every time someone had gotten close, he'd sent them running away with their tails between their legs.

It wasn't until Ichigo was 15 that he'd discovered he preferred guys over girls. A girl called Orihime Inoue had confessed her love for him. Ichigo had, as politely as he could, told her he wasn't interested in seeing someone right now. He knew Orihime was the most popular girl at school, someone every single boy drooled after, but Ichigo felt nothing as he looked at her. Or any other girl.

Ichigo sighed again as he felt Kuchiki's eyes resting on him. He slowly turned his gaze to the blackboard and forced his brain to listen to his teacher's slow rambling.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

The distant sound of a bell signaled the end of the lesson, and Ichigo wasted no time in lingering around. Instead, he quickly stuffed his books in his bag and trotted out of the classroom.

Before he could reach the end of the hall, something hard hit him between his shoulder blades, almost knocking the air out of his lungs. Furious, he turned on the heel only to see Shinji walking down the middle of the hall, cackling like crazy while making his way towards a seething Ichigo. Shinji had thrown his left shoe at him, seemingly for no other reason than to annoy the shit out of Ichigo.

"What the fuck's your problem!" Ichigo snarled while rubbing his sore back. Shinji was thin, sure, but that did absolutely not mean he had no strength. Ichigo had known him for almost seven years, and during that time, he had never seen Shinji lose a fight. Already he could feel a bruise spread on his back.

"You dashed out of the classroom so fast I though you were trying to escape me," Shinji whined. He bent down in front of Ichigo to pick up his shoe. He put it back on and smirked under the glare Ichigo was sending him. "All right, all kidding aside," he shrugged and walked past Ichigo. "I wanted to ask if you're coming to Shuuhei's party tonight? I heard he's gotten his hands on an empty studio, and half the city's probably gonna be there."

Ichigo stood up straight and swept a hand through his hair before shaking his head.

"I've gotta take Karin to her football game," he said as he caught up with Shinji. "The old man's working late tonight, so I have to 'babysit'."

Shinji snorted and peered at him from the corner of his eye. "You sure you're not just gonna run home and play that stupid-ass game of yours instead?" he teased.

"Fuck off, prick," Ichigo spat. He hated it when people jumped to conclusions, especially when it had something to do with the time he spent in front of the computer.

Shinji just threw his head back and started laughing again. "Man, you're too easy to piss off, Ichi," he jingled as they left the university. "Makes the teasing oh so much more... _enjoyable._"

Ichigo swallowed his sour answer, knowing it would only make Shinji laugh even harder. Instead, he stuck his hands in his pockets and let his thoughts drift.

People had a tendency to label every type of human and behavior. Delinquents, nerds, jocks and hipsters are only a few of the hundred different labels that existed in this world. Ichigo himself had avoided the 'nerd' label only because of his performance at the tournament, but Shinji always jokingly labeled him as a 'gamer', or sometimes, like now, as a 'no-life'.

If Ichigo really thought about it himself, he didn't think he was a no-life. He played games, sure, but he didn't spend five hours a day in front of the computer, he didn't ditch his friends to stay home and play games instead. He, according to himself, played a very reasonable amount of time, one or two hours a day. Tops.

He didn't really know why he'd started playing games in the first place. He figured he just liked smashing the buttons on the keyboard, easing his stress by killing raging teenagers. It was fun.

_What more reason than fun do you need?_

A sudden hit to his shoulder made him snap back to reality. He blinked dumbly for a few seconds, thinking he'd walked straight into a wall, before realizing he was staring at a very tall, muscular man. The man was dressed in loose, ripped jeans and a white t-shirt underneath a black hoodie. The hood was pulled over his head and all the way to his eyebrows, and it gave his face a dangerous shading.

Ichigo's eyes travelled to the man's face, and he had to suppress a gasp that furiously wanted to escape his lips. The man had the most captivating eyes Ichigo had ever seen. They were piercing ocean blue, and their intensity made Ichigo feel as if they were burning holes through his head.

_Holy shit!_

"Watch where yer going, kid," the man growled lowly, making the hair stand up in Ichigo's neck. He opened his mouth to apologize, but it was as if his tongue had been glued to the roof of his mouth. Instead of speaking, he stood staring at the guy with wide eyes and slightly parted lips.

The man tilted his head to the left and a feral grin graced his lips, revealing perfect, pearl white teeth with slightly sharper canines. Ichigo felt his face heat up and he closed his lips. He averted his gaze and coughed to hide his embarrassment. "S-sorry about that," he stammered.

The man studied him for a moment before chuckling softly. He stuck his hands in his pockets, turned around and left. Ichigo didn't realize he was staring after him until he heard that cackling laughter next to him.

"You look like a schoolgirl in love, Ichi," Shinji jingled as he stood with his arms around his stomach, bending at the waist from laughter.

"Shut your trap, idiot!" Ichigo snapped and punched Shinji's shoulder none too softly. "Try to keep your composure with those eyes staring right through your soul. Jesus, who _was _that?"

Shinji stood up straight as the laughter subsided. He looked at Ichigo and arched en eyebrow in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?" he snorted.

"Does it look like I'm kidding?" Ichigo said and rubbed his forehead in annoyance. "You know I suck at remembering names or faces, and I can't recall seeing him before."

"That, my darling Ichigo, was Grimmjow Jaegerjaques," Shinji sighed. "Our school's top delinquent, the most feared man in the university! I hear he's even got a criminal record. Didn't you fight him last year?"

"Fight him?"

"Yeah, stupid, in the tournament." Shinji shook his head at Ichigo's ignorance and started walking towards the bus station. "He took first place, remember?"

Ichigo squinted his eyebrows as the tried to remember. He'd lost the fight for second place to a gorilla-looking guy - _can't remember his name -_ so if this Grimmjow had taken first place, it didn't necessarily mean Ichigo had faced him.

"Nope, I've never fought him," he finally said. "I was third, right? So Grimmjow beat the guy I lost to. I never met him."

"Oh." Shinji rolled his head to the side. "Well, I expected you to at least know his name. He's infamous, you know? I think you're even in the same biology class as him."

"What!" Ichigo stared at Shinji with disbelief. "How come I've never noticed him before?"

"Didn't you just say you suck at remembering names and faces?" Shinji said sarcastically and giggled.

Ichigo didn't even bother to answer. Instead, he checked the large time table that was placed just outside the station's doors.

"Fuck," he sighed when he noticed his bus had just left. He absentmindedly ran a hand through his hair before turning around and walking in the opposite direction. "I'll walk home today," he called over his shoulder to Shinji. "See you tomorrow, right?"

"Later, stupid!" Shinji shouted back before lazily strolling into the station.

Ichigo frowned. He lifted his eyes to the cloud-free sky. _That guy, Grimmjow..._ He had caught Ichigo completely off guard. He was taller than him, probably around 6'1" or 6'2". Ichigo had felt as if walking into a solid wall, which meant he had to have quite the set of muscles. Ichigo had also noticed he was still somewhat slender, so he wasn't one of those body builders, whose large muscles disrupted the figure of their bodies.

Ichigo shivered. _Nasty._

No, Grimmjow seemed to have just the right amount of muscle. _Oh, imagine what it would feel like to be held by those strong arms, to have his hands tied in my hair, to feel them running down my back and..._

Ichigo stopped dead in his track.

_What the fuck? _

He'd only just seen the guy for the first time, and here he was, fantasizing over him like Grimmjow would've forever been the love of his life. Plus, the man was scary. That feral, blood-icing grin was enough to make anyone piss their pants.

_No kidding._

Ichigo roughly shook his head a few times before he continued walking. He gritted his teeth in annoyance and focused his thoughts on this term's final exam in chemistry.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

"Thanks for the food, Yuzu," Ichigo said and set down his chopsticks. He stretched out in his chair and sat quietly for a few moments before lazily hoisting himself up from the chair. "I'll be in my room if you need anything. Good game tonight, Karin," he added and playfully ruffled his sister's hair as he passed her.

He slowly scaled the stairs and entered his room, where he sat down on his bed. He glanced over at the clock at his nightstand. 9.38 PM. He picked up his phone, thinking about calling Shinji, but then he remembered he was probably at Shuuhei's party.

He stood up and walked over to his desk. He'd already finished his homework, worked on his project and finished reading the book for english class.

_Now what?_

He turned on his computer and took a seat. He kept tapping his foot to the floor as he waited for the slow machine to load. When it finally opened, he quickly checked his e-mail before clicking an icon labeled "the World". As the game loaded, Ichigo opened his drawers and retrieved an emulator. He placed it around his head and typed in his password to access the game. He double clicked the name "Goichi" in the list of his characters, and he was suddenly standing in the middle of a lush, green forest.

Ichigo had started playing the World two years ago. He'd found out about it while studying in the library. Some kids had been playing it, and they must've been stuck, because they had asked Ichigo for help. Ichigo, who had never played this game before, tried his best to help the kids at least a little, but he soon realized he was probably only getting them more lost.

The next day, he'd gone to the store and bought the game. He found its technology interesting and he admired the idea of including an emulator to increase player satisfaction. He'd immediately fallen in love with the class 'brawler', which used fist weapons and fought in close combat. He had tried playing as a mage, but the adrenaline rush was not nearly the same if you stood on a hill and shot bolts of fire at faraway enemies than if you could personally go and beat them up.

_Back to the game._

Ichigo was moving through a forest in Rukongai, currently making his way for the sea. As he ran, he passed monsters and animals, but they didn't seem to care much about his presence. Vice versa, Ichigo didn't even look at them. Their level was so much lower than his that he wouldn't gain anything by killing them.

Suddenly, a small icon of a letter popped up on his screen. He clicked it and it automatically opened a chat box.

"_Yo, Ichigo!"_

Ichigo checked the name of the sender and saw it was from "Zabimaru".

"_Ah, Renji," _he wrote back. _"Why're you not at Shuuhei's party?"_

"_I was, but it was boring as shit, so I though I'd come and bother u fer a bit."_

"_I'm honored. Prick."_

"_Bhahah, don't be such a butthurt! I was just messin' with ya."_

Ichigo didn't reply immediately. He'd arrived at the docks of Rukongai and noticed the boat was just about to leave. He quickly hit the button 'x' and suddenly his character dashed forward with three times regular speed. He practically flew across the docks and leaped right onto the deck. Well seated aboard the ship, he opened the chat again.

"_So what do you really want?"_

"_Yeah, I'm heading for Arrancar Castle, wanna join? We're short on brawlers..."_

"_Nah, I wanna finish my quests, sorry."_

"_Boring."_

Ichigo chuckled and closed the chat. The boat had just landed at La Garganta, so he jumped ashore and leisurely strolled into a jungle.

The weather was horrible, with thunder striking the ground like rain. He carefully made his way through the thick mass of trees, tall grass and bushes, jumping to the side every now and then to avoid getting struck by lightning. He noticed the beasts of the forest seemed to pay him a little more attention here. They were stronger here on La Garganta, and since Ichigo didn't want to get into useless fights, he walked slowly not to agitate them.

He reached an opening in the middle of the jungle. It was completely free from lightning, almost as if it was covered by a barrier. He sat down in the soft grass and pulled out a journal from his pocket. He flipped it open and let his finger run along the lines, searching for the right quest.

He stopped at a line that read "Hidden faces". It was one of the main chain quests for brawlers. He would be rewarded with an advanced form of an ability called "Hollowfication", which would allow him to transform into something that resembled a monster. It would increase his attack power by 50%, and his attacks would heal him for 3% of his max health per hit, but it would only last for 8 seconds.

Ichigo had already acquired the first stage of hollowfication; he could equip himself with a mask which increased his attributes by 25%, and heal him for 1% per attack. His mask would last 10 seconds before crumbling away.

To finish the quest he needed to collect 300 shards from all the dungeons in the World, and one run would get him one shard. _Shit, this would take forever..._

A sudden crack behind him made his body stiffen. He put away his journal and turned around in his seat. A shadow was sneaking around the edge of the jungle, following Ichigo's every move. When the shadow came a little closer, Ichigo stood up. He slowly adjusted his fist weapons over his knuckles and took his stance. And waited.

He heard a soft snarl, and then the creature charged out of its hiding. Ichigo had only time enough to register it as a light blue panther with long, pointy ears before it leaped right at him. He jumped to the side just in time to avoid getting mauled by razor sharp claws.

The panther slowed down and turned around to stare at Ichigo. It started to prowl along the edge of the trees, constantly glaring at Ichigo with dark, icy blue eyes. It growled loudly every time he made a too sudden move.

_Animal instinct, yes?_

He had to admire the shiny, soft-looking blue fur which practically sparkled every time lightning struck outside the opening they were constantly circling. If this would've been real life, Ichigo imagined slowly dragging his fingers through the fur, petting the feline until it purred. But then again, those extremely long, dazzling white fangs would probably make him want to turn around and run as fast as his legs could carry him.

Before long, however, Ichigo noticed something odd. The panther was wearing earrings along its left ear, and a thick black necklace hung around its neck. He clicked on the panther and quickly glanced to the corner of his screen. A name had appeared. "Panthera".

_Another player._

He leaned back on his heels, crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at the circling animal. As if it knew what he was thinking, it stopped walking. When it didn't do anything, Ichigo raised his hands over his head as if in defeat.

The panther let a menacing snarl roll through its teeth, but before Ichigo could even blink, the panther's fur started growing shorter and shorter. Its limbs started to grow longer and its face became more human-like. Layers of clothing replaced the fur, and it raised to stand on its hind legs.

Ichigo flinched. Before him now stood a tall, blue-haired panther Hybrid. He was taller than Ichigo, and his hands were still very claw-like. His skin almost unnoticeably merged to fur by his sideburns and instead of human ears, the pointy ears from his panther form stuck out from underneath his blue locks. The sleek tail slowly wagged from one side to the other.

_An enemy player. A shapeshifter from the Dark side.  
_

The player called Panthera was dressed in what looked like a few layers of silk over his legs. They were held up by three leather belts, but they still hung dangerously low on his hips. He only wore an open loose vest over his chest, and his wrists were covered by dark leather cuffs. An ornate spear was held up by a belt that hung over his chest. Ichigo couldn't make out his face, since he wore a mask which resembled the feral face of his panther form.

He said something Ichigo didn't understand. It was basic knowledge that players from the Light side and the Dark side couldn't communicate with each other, and at moments like this, it really annoyed Ichigo.

He cocked an eyebrow and shrugged to show Panthera he didn't understand. The hybrid sighed and ran a hand through his blue hair before widening his stance and grabbing his spear. Ichigo immediately raised his hands at him and warily shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

_So, you wanna fight, huh?_

He couldn't help but smirk, and he could've sworn Panthera was grinning underneath his mask as well. He let his spear slide back into its holder and Ichigo's eyes narrowed as he watched his enemy transform back into the feral beast.

Judging from Panthera's simple-looking gear, Ichigo figured this player had just reached level 50. _Maybe I should go easy on him... don't wanna break his spirit._

A few seconds passed, a moment almost electrically charged. And then, both players broke away from the ground at the same time. Ichigo struck from the left, aiming for the feline's ribs, but Panthera dodged it with ease. He lowered his feral body flat to the ground before pouncing; he buried his claws in Ichigo's chest and lowered his head to sink his teeth into the open neck in front of him.

_Fuck! This guy..._

Ichigo realized his mistake of underestimating the enemy a bit too late. His hands practically flew over his keyboard and he managed to land a hit in the beast's chin. Panthera growled and his body was jarred away from Ichigo upon the impact of the hit.

Ichigo's health had dropped to 68% and he had a wound which constantly made him lose more. On top of that, the panther had used some kind of weird ability that cut his defense by 20%. He sat up straight in his chair and cracked his fingers before letting them hover above the keyboard.

_Alright, let's get serious!_

He charged at Panthera, hitting 'x' for increased speed, 't' for heightened defense and 'r' for a burst of additional attack power. After that, he couldn't even register which keys he hit. He landed hit after hit on the beast's body, but he also noticed, with rising frustration, that every time he got close enough to Panthera to strike, he was countered by claws or teeth.

Once his speed boost ran out, Ichigo noticed Panthera was much faster than him. Not only did he have a hard time keeping up with him, but the feline also kept appearing behind him. This lead to a series of strong attacks hitting his defenseless back.

Ichigo hadn't had an opponent like this in a long time. He usually fought players who dropped after the three first hits, but this... this was one of those fights that made him thoroughly concentrate with adrenaline pumping through his veins.

When his health had been lowered to 10%, he decided to use his trump card. He jumped backwards, away from Panthera, and with a triumphant grin, he smashed the key 'y'.

Nothing happened.

Ichigo stared at the screen. _What..?_ He pushed the key again. Nothing. He turned his gaze to where his abilities were listed. He located hollowfication and his jaw dropped.

"Cooldown remaining – 3 minutes"

_Fuuuuuuuuuck!_

Panthera must've been waiting for him to do something since he had watched Ichigo without attacking, but now, he snarled in satisfaction, and bounded forward. He bared his teeth and the fur on his back stood up, and before Ichigo could even react, his chest was shredded open, followed by a bite right underneath his chin. Wide-eyed, Ichigo stared at the screen, watching his body fall to the ground with a light thud.

Panthera released his throat and backed away from him. He transformed back into a hybrid and studied Ichigo's corpse for a moment. He looked disappointed. He ran a hand through his blue hair before turning on the heel and disappearing.

Ichigo leaned back in his chair, still wearing his emulator. The words "game over" were flashing in and out of focus, so Ichigo took them off, stuffed them back into his drawers and threw a cold glance at the screen before shutting down his computer.

He looked at his clock again. 10.21 PM. He walked out of his room and went to check on his sisters. They were already sleeping soundly. He carefully shut the door to their room and stepped down the stairs into the kitchen. He was just about to open the refrigerator and grab a soda when the front door opened. He looked up and saw his father, Isshin, walking into the room. He looked exhausted.

"How come you're so late?" Ichigo asked quietly.

"Got caught up at work," Isshin replied and slumped down on the couch. "God, I'm tired!"

"Go sleep then, old man," Ichigo snorted and headed for the door. "I'm going to Shinji's. Yuzu and Karin are sleeping, so try not to wake them, ok?"

Isshin just raised his hand in response, so Ichigo grabbed his jacket and started walking towards downtown. He picked up his phone and dialed Shinji's number. He rubbed his forehead while waiting for him to pick up and just to be safe, he held his phone a bit from his ear, knowing that if Shinji was drunk, he would scream as loudly as he could.

_Explosion in three... two... one..._

"Yo, it's Ichi!"

Shinji's voice erupted like a volcano through the phone, and Ichigo took a deep breath before placing it next to his ear.

"Hey, just though I'd drop by at Shuuhei's," he said. "Where was it again?"

"Oooohohohoo, Ichi is coming!" Shinji cackled and laughed at his own statement. _Jesus, how drunk was this guy? _"What made ya change yer mind?"

"Nothing really, just need to unwind a little frustration, 's all," Ichigo sighed. "Gonna tell me where it is?"

"Mmmmkay," Shinji giggled. "'S only a few blocks east from the university, shouldn' be hard ta find."

"Yeah, right. See you in a bit, Shin."

Ichigo closed his phone and inhaled deeply, letting the cool night air tickle his nostrils. He didn't usually go to parties, especially if they took place in the middle of the week. But then again, he never got this frustrated when playing in the World. He didn't want to think about it right now, and he figured the easiest way to forget it would be by going to the party and laugh at Shinji making a fool out of himself.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

AN: _Alright, first official chapter is up! There's really not much happening in this chapter, just basic introduction of characters, the World and stuff like that. I'll try to update as often as I can, once every week or every other week, I think._

_Please tell me what you think, reviews are always welcome :) Oh, and advice on how to make my writing better is also greatly appreciated!_

_Ci vediamo, mia tesorini!_


	3. Vengeance

**Just a game?**

**Chapter three – vengeance**

**xxxxxxxxxx**

Ichigo couldn't remember the last time he'd been this frustrated. He had gone to Shuuhei's party to unwind, but it turned out he'd only gotten more annoyed when he had to practically carry a completely wasted Shinji home. Shinji had wobbled around, slurred some random words, and finally puked in an alley.

He had never minded losing before, but he was convinced he could've beaten Panthera if his hollowfication hadn't been on cooldown. The though had settled in his mind and he couldn't get rid of it, no matter how hard he tried.

Ichigo buried his face in his hands and groaned. _Shit, this was annoying..._

"Distracted, Ichigo?"

Ichigo looked up. Chad had sat down in front of him, and now peeked at him from underneath his curly bangs. He looked around and discovered class had ended without him noticing it.

"Yeah, a little," Ichigo sighed. He leaned back in his chair and looked out the window. "I recently lost a... a fight." He didn't want Chad, or anyone, to know he was pissed off for losing in a game.

"It's not the first time, right?" Chad said with a small chuckle.

"No, but I know I could've won if I hadn't frozen at the end," Ichigo frowned and absentmindedly scratched his head. "And it pisses me off to know that."

Chad studied him for a moment or two before standing up. "I won't encourage you to fight, Ichigo," he said with a shrug. "But if it's this annoying, why don't you fight the guy again and win?"

Ichigo stared at him. _Well, shit, there's an idea. _He nodded at Chad before leaning his head on his hand and staring out the window.

He considered his options. On one hand, he could keep trying to get rid of that gnawing feeling of defeat. On another hand, he could try to find Panthera and kick his ass. Or he could ignore it all together.

He grinned inwards as he watched the classroom slowly fill with people. The answer had been so obvious he wondered why he hadn't thought of it earlier. _Revenge. Vengeance. _What else was there really to do?

He glanced at Shinji from the corner of his eye. He couldn't believe he had come to school after last night. He was resting his head in his arms and groaned quietly every now and then. Ichigo had to bite his jaws together to not let out the bubbling laughter that wanted to escape his throat. Everything suddenly seemed a little bit brighter.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

Just to be on the safe side, Ichigo walked Shinji home. Shinji was unusually quiet, and he was walking on slightly shaky feet. He had told Ichigo he was fine, but Ichigo had just sighed and dragged Shinji along by his jacket. Finally, Shinji had given up his weak protests and leaned at Ichigo to be able to stand upright as he walked.

When they reached Shinji's house, Shinji clapped Ichigo on the shoulder and wobbled up the stairs to his front door without a word.

"You sure you'll be okay, Shin?" Ichigo called over his shoulder as he walked down the street.

Shinji just raised an arm and grunted something in response before slamming the door shut. Ichigo chuckled to himself as he walked towards the bus station. He knew Shinji had two modes of hangover; either he would behave like the worst asshole in the world, or he would just seem depressed. Today, luckily, it seemed to be the latter. Ichigo knew he would be back to normal in a few hours, and thank god for that, because neither of his drunken attitudes suited him.

He hurried to catch his bus and sat down in the back. The bus actually took the longer way to his house, but it gave him some time to think. He was feeling excited, almost giddy. It made him slightly embarrassed. Panthera had seemed somewhat familiar, almost like Ichigo would've seen him before. He couldn't quite place the feeling of recognition, it was like facing a childhood friend you hadn't seen in years. And the expression of disappointment on Panthera's face when Ichigo had lost so easily...

A chill of anticipation ran down his spine, and he smirked. He knew Karin was in the park practicing football and Yuzu was at her friend's house, _so..._ He would be bored at home either way.

He stepped through his front door fifteen minutes later. He quickly walked up the stairs, threw his bag on the bed in his room and started his computer. When he sat down, a sudden though hit him.

_How the hell was he supposed to find this guy?_

Ichigo stared at the screen while thinking. He didn't know if Panthera had been looking for him yesterday, but it seemed he had found Ichigo pretty easily. If Panthera was somewhere in La Garganta, Ichigo would probably never find him. If he was in the Dark side's capital city, Las Noches, it would be almost impossible to get to him. If he sat one foot inside the main gates of Las Noches, he would be immediately slaughtered. If not by guards, then by other players.

However, if he was skilled enough to sneak into Las Noches and find Panthera, then maybe the other players would allow him to battle the shapeshifter one on one. Ichigo figured it was his only option.

_Assuming Panthera was there, of course._

When he applied his emulator, he noticed his character was still laying dead in the grass. _Oh yeah, I didn't resurrect. _Ichigo double-clicked his own body, waited for a few seconds and then, with a blinding light, he stood back up, completely healed. He cracked his neck to each side before reaching for a map from his inventory. He was currently located on the east side of La Garganta, in the middle of the jungle. He didn't think it was possible for him to teleport to the docks where the boats from Hueco Mundo landed, so he would have to travel by foot.

Ichigo put away his map and started running through the forest. He stopped now and then to check his map and make sure he was heading the right way. He had to run in a quite messy pattern since he didn't want to engage any monsters.

Most of his abilities had a quite long cooldown, so he would have to be careful with what buttons he pressed. If he accidentally hit hollowfication, he would have to wait for seven hours for it to recharge. And he wanted this to be done today.

He arrived at the docks. His mission to sneak into Las Noches without being noticed would start here. There were guards walking back and forth along the docks, making sure enemies didn't pass. Ichigo also had to be careful of the enemy players who came running out from the ships every now and then.

With his tongue between his teeth, he started moving closer. He stood waiting for a ship to land before running in a long circle around the docks and diving into the water. His character could stay underwater for one whole minute, which was lucky, because he was certain he'd be spotted if he even raised his head above the surface.

He swam along the seafloor until he was directly underneath the ship. He noticed his air supply was running out, so he started moving towards the stern and finally raised his head above the water once he was on the side of the ship that wasn't visible from the docks. He soundlessly hoisted himself up from the water, buried his fingertips in a small gap between the planks and started climbing up the side. He noticed a small balcony at the rear and slowly moved towards it. He sat down on the railing and waited until the ship started moving. The balcony would be fully visible once the ship turned around, so he hastily entered the boat and found himself standing in a storage room.

_Perfect._

He sat down behind a box and waited. He had never created a character that belonged to the Dark side, so he had no idea what Las Noches looked like. Sneaking in from the main gate was impossible if the players from the Dark side were the same as those from the Light side, where players would always gather in front of the main gates and duel each other.

After a few minutes Ichigo noticed the ship's speed decreased, so he moved back out to the balcony. They were almost at the docks, so he leaped over the railing and into the sea. Or what he though was a sea. He landed, face first, on soft sand.

_The fuck?_

Coughing and spitting, he stood up and ruffled his hair to get rid of the small grains of sand. He looked around and his eyes widened slightly.

The entire island of Hueco Mundo seemed to consist of one huge desert. Ichigo checked his map and noticed there were no lakes or forests on this island. A few camps were marked here and there, but other than that, there was nothing that proved any form of life existed on this island. Las Noches was located right in the middle of the desert.

A sudden feeling of sinking made him quickly look down. His feet were slowly but surely disappearing into the sand. _Quicksand._

"Fuck," he mumbled to himself and quickly tried to drag hit feet out of the sand, but it only resulted in him sinking down to his knees. "Ah, _fuck_."

He hit the jump button repeatedly and it seemed to work. He started struggling towards what looked like more solid sand while making sure no one could see him. Luckily, he had jumped off the ship in good time, so he wasn't that close to the docks. He hoisted himself up from the quicksand and turned his gaze to the heavens.

The sun was burning in a cloudless sky. Ichigo noticed a small icon had popped up in the corner of the screen. He hovered his cursor over it and read the words _"Sunburn. Exposure without protection to the scorching sun of Hueco Mundo. You will take damage every thirty seconds."_

Ichigo groaned. If he didn't want to drop dead before even getting to Las Noches, he would have to hurry up. He jumped to his feet and after a quick look at his map, he started running. He didn't see any animals or monsters as he ran. He wondered how players from the Dark side actually leveled up here, considering that most quests involved killing something. Only a few fake-looking trees stood up from the sand.

_How boring._

Compared to Rukongai, this wasn't worth shit. In Rukongai there were forests, lakes, waterfalls and blossoming fields as far as the eye could reach. Here, there was nothing. He didn't even see a single player, which was weird, because he had read online that on this server, the Dark siders were about double the amount of Light siders. _So where is everybody?_

After running for a few minutes, Las Noches finally appeared on the horizon. Ichigo slowed down. He had to be extra careful from here forth, since there were no trees to hide behind. In fact, if a guard would use binoculars and look in his direction right now, they would be able to see him.

The sunburn had dragged down his health to 80%, so he downed a health potion before crouching down, moving along the sand as he drew closer to the city. It was indeed surrounded by high walls. He located the main gate and scowled as he noticed it was flooded by players. He stood still for a moment, observing the different races and classes. The only race that was almost the same on both the Light and Dark side was the hybrid. They looked like humans, apart from their ears and tails.

He tore his eyes away from the mass of players and scanned the walls. There were not many guards on the ground around the walls. However, there seemed to be quite a lot of them stationed on top of the walls. He could probably easily climb up there, but what he would do then was the question. If he killed a guard, he would be instantly surrounded. He had to sneak in without getting spotted.

He dashed to the wall and started climbing. Once he reached the top, he slowed down. He could hear footsteps, so he waited. When they stopped, Ichigo peeked over the edge.

A guard was standing with his back towards him. Ichigo could've easily taken him out, but he noticed the rest of the guards were standing too close; they would notice him immediately. He frowned as he tried to think. An idea popped up in his head and he used his fist weapon to carve a small rock from the wall he was hanging from. When the guard that stood the closest to him turned the other way, he tossed the rock at the guard further away. It hit him in the back of his head, and he angrily turned around and started yelling at the other guards, who ran up to him and began arguing, leaving the road clear for Ichigo.

With a grin, he hoisted himself up on the wall. There was quite a gap between the closest rooftop and Ichigo, but he hit 'x', granting himself the speed boost, and jumped. He practically flew over the gap and landed on all four on top of the roof. His smirk grew wider as he sneaked up to the middle and looked around.

He was standing in the far east corner of Las Noches. When he looked down, he saw the town was flooded with players. He narrowed his eyes and wondered why they were all just hanging around inside the city. Then he noticed his sunburn had disappeared. He glanced at the sky and saw the sun had vanished. Instead, a beautiful full moon lit up the city. It shone almost as strongly as the sun, but this felt more relaxing.

_Well, well, well, where to begin?_

Ichigo trotted to the edge of the roof and leaped to the next building. None of the enemy players seemed to notice him. He felt a small tinge of adrenaline rush through his veins as he jumped from roof to roof, constantly scanning his surroundings for a sign of Panthera. His eyes quickly found the tallest building, which was located in the middle of Las Noches. From there he would have perfect line of sight. The problem would be getting up there. There were no buildings tall enough to give him a straight passage to the roof, so he would have to get up through the inside.

There were a few windows around the tower. He could get inside that way, but he couldn't see through the dirty glass, so if he bursted through a window, he could fly straight into the arms of a Dark sider.

It was the only way he could get in, so he sucked in a deep breath before he broke away from the roof. He stretched out his right hand and just barely managed to grab onto the almost non-existing windowsill. He wanted to wait for the coast to be clear, but he was going to lose his grip if he stayed like this for too long, so he drove a fist through the window and unlocked it from the inside. He braced himself and climbed inside.

Once his feet hit the floor, he sighed in relief. He could hear voices from downstairs, but he was alone on this floor.

"Must be the devil's luck," he hummed to himself and smirked. He prowled across the room to a door and pushed it open, revealing an ornate spiral staircase. He silently dragged the door shut behind him before quickly scaling the stairs.

Once at the top floor, Ichigo sat down and leaned against the wall. He rubbed his forehead and cursed at himself for feeling like a crazy fangirl sneaking into her idol's hotel. It was embarrassing and amusing at the same time, and as he stood back up again, he decided that if Panthera wasn't here, he wouldn't think about this anymore.

There were no windows on this floor. Instead there was an well-worn ladder leading up to a hatch. Ichigo carefully climbed up and pushed open the hatch. A small cloud of dust told him this hatch hadn't been used in a while.

He hoisted himself from the opening and stood up straight. The full moon seemed extremely close from up here. He took a moment to admire the dull yet captivating scenery before closing the hatch and walking to the edge of the roof.

Ichigo was thoroughly surprised that no one saw him. From where he stood, he could see every building in Las Noches, he could see the small shops, the patrolling guards and the shouting players. He bended at the waist to get a proper look at the ground. He narrowed his eyes as he scanned the mass of players for a hint of blue. He walked along the edge of the roof, constantly hoping he'd see that shimmering teal somewhere in the crowds.

When he had walked around the edge once, he felt a sting of disappointment. He had really wanted to settle the score with Panthera. He ran a finger through his hair and bended forward one last time to check the entrance of the tower, and what he saw made his heart do a somersault.

_Found you!_

The hybrid had just exited the tower. He was talking to a freakishly tall and skinny raven-haired man. Ichigo registered him as a Living Dead, as you could almost see spots on his arms where his flesh had rotted or melted and left his bones exposed to the air. He was carrying a huge axe over his shoulder._ A warrior_. The axe added an almost arrogant feature to his thin person, as if he wanted to prove that even though he was skinny as hell, he still had power.

After them trotted a green-haired girl. She had long, pointy ears and she was swinging an ornate mace back and forth, cheerfully humming while waiting for the men in front of her to decide where to go.

Ichigo had to take his chance while he had it; if Panthera started walking away now, Ichigo would never be able to catch him in the mass of enemies. With his heart pounding in his chest, Ichigo turned his back to the edge of the roof, and after chuckling nervously, he let his body fall backwards.

For a few seconds, his body was hastily drawing closer to the ground, head first. He heard someone shout something, but he didn't have time to see who it was. Instead, he twirled his body in midair, did a neat flip and landed on all four right in front of the hybrid. His health dropped to 25% from the impact of the fall, but he didn't mind it. He slowly turned his gaze up and locked eyes with an obviously shocked Panthera.

For a moment, everything was quiet. Then, the second Ichigo stood up, he was surrounded. Probably over a hundred Dark siders now stood with their weapons raised at him. He kept his eyes on Panthera, who stared back at him with what could've been recognition mixed with amusement. Just as one of the enemy players started moving towards Ichigo, Panthera shouted something at the crowd. He took a few closer to Ichigo without breaking eye contact. Once he stood just one feet away, he turned to face the spectators. Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he started speaking in the foreign language. He didn't know what he said, but the crowd started protesting loudly and Ichigo figured Panthera had just told them to not kill him.

Ichigo took his eyes off the shapeshifter to observe his followers. A third man had now emerged from the tower. He was also a hybrid, but Ichigo couldn't figure out what animal. The ears were pointy and the tail fluffy. The man's hair was a shining sliver gray, matching the color of his animalistic features. His eyes were not open, but it still seemed as though he was staring at Ichigo. He was smiling widely, but there wasn't a single hint of kindness in his smile. Instead, it made Ichigo feel like he was being strangled by snakes.

To get rid of the feeling, he studied the girl instead. She was wearing a light yellow robe which didn't suit the color of her hair at all. The mace she now held hanging lazily at her side seemed to be made of a cluster of minerals. Judging from her gear, Ichigo figured she was a shaman. The girl had the body of a supermodel, and Ichigo knew that if he would've been straight, he would probably be nose-bleeding right now. Or at least drooling. She looked at him with suspicious gray eyes, but when their eyes met, she quickly averted her gaze as if embarrassed.

The man with the axe leered at him while impatiently bouncing his axe up and down on his shoulder. His left eye was concealed by an eyepatch and he kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other, as if trying his best to resist the urge to charge at the brawler.

A rising cheer behind Ichigo made him quickly turn around on the heel. Panthera was staring at him, and behind the hybrid, the mass of enemies started moving. Ichigo flinched as Panthera grabbed his arm and signed him to move along the crowd. Ichigo cocked an eyebrow at him and slapped away his hand before following the stream of players. He heard Panthera snort and glared at him from the corner of his eyes. He was still wearing his mask, but Ichigo was certain he was grinning widely. _Cocky bastard._

The crowd moved towards an arena in the west side of Las Noches. Ichigo followed Panthera through a passage that lead to the middle while everybody else moved to the stands. Like the rest of Hueco Mundo, the arena consisted only of sand. Ichigo could just barely tell three pools of quicksand apart from the rest of the area.

Once Ichigo took his place, he used another health potion to recover from the fall. He cracked his fingers and hovered them over the keyboard, waiting for Panthera to signal he was ready. Ichigo could almost hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears as he waited for the crowd to take their seat.

_Come on, come on, come on..._

His fingers twitched with anticipation when Panthera finally turned to face him. He grinned and widened his stance as he once again watched the man transform into the shimmering blue panther.

The crowd grew quiet, waiting for the battle to commence. Ichigo waited for Panthera to make the first move, but when nothing happened, he took a deep breath before dashing forward. When he got close enough, he raised his arm, ready to strike. He noticed Panthera's body stiffen, but before the feline could dodge, Ichigo turned around on the spot and planted the back of his fist straight into the side of its chin.

Panthera growled lowly as the impact knocked his body backwards, but he landed gracefully on the sand only to throw himself back at the brawler. Ichigo ducked and managed to avoid getting raked by the sharp claws, but Panthera's tail caught him by the throat, and with a surprised gasp, he was pulled to the ground. The strength of the panther's tail had only sealed off his airways for a second, but it had been enough to make him cough a few times. Distracted, he failed to notice when Panthera pounced off the ground, and Ichigo groaned as the panther sunk his teeth into his arm.

The crowd grew louder and louder, cheering every time Panthera succeeded to attack Ichigo and cursing or groaning every time the brawler managed to land a hit. Ichigo released himself from the feline's jaws by aiming a kick at the beast's ribcage. Panthera let go of his arm to dodge the attack, but he didn't succeed; he avoided getting his ribs cracked, but Ichigo's foot landed in the side of his abdomen instead. Ichigo heard the panther snarl in pain as it staggered backwards, and he wasted no time allowing his enemy to catch his breath. Instead, he dashed forward and reached out to grab Panthera's neck, but the feline was already back on his feet. He locked his fangs around Ichigo's arm once more and with a menacing growl, he lifted the brawler off the ground. He twisted his upper body and slammed Ichigo's body to the sand.

Ichigo gritted his teeth in frustration when he saw his health dropping rapidly. He didn't want to use any more health potions, seeing as that wouldn't be fair play. Instead, he aimed another kick at Panthera. The feline dodged, and Ichigo leaped backwards. He was just about to use hollowfication when he noticed he had waltzed right into a pool of quicksand.

"Shit!" he groaned and started slamming the jump button. He glanced at Panthera only to see him dashing towards his prey. He swiped Ichigo's arm, leaped to the side, and attacked again, this time going for his shoulder. Rinse and repeat. To Ichigo, he looked like a blue blur, and when the brawler finally broke free from the quicksand, he slowed down and stepped back. Ichigo finally got the opportunity to use hollowfication, and he grabbed his chance before another distraction would appear.

As he raised his palm to his face, Ichigo noticed Panthera was observing him. He shot the feline a blazing glare between his fingers before he started to materialize his mask from thin air. He raked his fingers through the air, and with a distant, distorted roar, his mask covered his face.

He saw Panthera's eyes widen, but he didn't give him time to recover from the surprise. He broke away from the ground with greatly increased speed. He let a satisfied chuckle escape his lips when he drove his fist straight into the panther's neck. He heard Panthera growl darkly as his body was jarred away from the impact of the hit, but before the beast's body even hit the ground, Ichigo dashed after him, grabbed his hind leg and planted another fist right between his ribs. Panthera's body hit the ground with a loud thud, but he quickly recovered and greeted Ichigo's next punch with his teeth.

The regenerative ability of hollowfication had raised Ichigo's health to 10% while Panthera's had dropped to 2%. Ichigo pulled back to prepare his final blow, but just as he charged forward and raised his arm, he heard a scream from somewhere in the crowds. He didn't pay the shout any attention until he was just one feet away from Panthera. The beast radiated a slight yellowish aura, and whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

Ichigo had to bury his feet in the sand to not run straight into him. He skidded, and when he was only a few inches away from the feline, his body was completely rejected. An invisible force threw him to the ground, and he cursed as the effect of his hollowfication ran out and the mask crumbled away.

_What the fuck!_

He jumped to his feet and furiously sought for the source of the almost glowing sphere that now surrounded a slightly confused Panthera. His eyes landed on the green-haired shaman. She had her mace raised and pointed at the shapeshifter, she was breathing a little faster, but this time, when their eyes met, she returned Ichigo's gaze without faltering.

Ichigo was just about to open his mouth and curse at her when Panthera transformed back into a hybrid. He shot Ichigo a quick glance before turning to face the girl. He shouted something, and after a few whines and annoyed growls, the shaman lowered her mace, making the sphere disappear.

Panthera turned his attention back to Ichigo. He leaned back on his heels and observed him for a moment before dragging his thumb over his throat, as if to tell the brawler to finish the job. Ichigo raised an eyebrow at him and took a few steps closer. When he was close enough, he looked into Panthera's eyes and almost unnoticeably shook his head.

_I've already won._

He raised arm and lightly punched the hybrid's shoulder before he turned around and walked away. Once he stood at the end of the arena, he turned to face Panthera one last time. A smile graced his lips and he raised his hand in farewell before spinning around on the heel, teleporting to Seireitei.

Once his character's safety was secured, Ichigo logged out and shut down his computer. He sat still in his chair for a few seconds before standing up and yawning. He felt like a small burden had left his shoulders and he couldn't help but smirk as he trotted down the stairs. _Revenge sure is sweet._

He felt like going for a walk, so he put on his shoes, grabbed his jacket and left the house.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

The following few days passed without any unusual events. Ichigo hadn't played the World since he'd beaten Panthera. Instead, he spent his days in the library, studying for this term's final tests. He'd occasionally been joined by Chad or Shinji, but neither seemed to have the nerve to sit still for that long, especially not Shinji. He would mostly sit down next to Ichigo and complain about how boring he was. Finally, Ichigo had gotten so annoyed, he'd thrown his book at a hysterically laughing Shinji.

Wanting some peace and quiet, Ichigo had stayed at school after hours to do a little research on ancient greek history. History was one of the few subjects he hated. It was boring and Ichigo just couldn't seem to get into it. Which was why he needed a completely silent place with boring surroundings to study at, otherwise he wouldn't have a chance to concentrate.

_'… and thus, Zeus threw a bolt of lightning at Phaeton, killing him before he could destroy more of Egypt's lush land. But the grounds had already become infertile with flame. Only a small area around the Nile was spared. Rather than mourn the death of his son, Helios blamed him for corrupting the land, turning it into a desert where nothing could grow..."_

Ichigo's eyes settled on the word 'desert' for a few seconds. It brought to his mind the endless desert of Hueco Mundo, the arena in Las Noches and his battle with Panthera. The feeling of adrenaline rushing through his veins, the thrill of the intense battle, the satisfaction of winning...

Ichigo sighed and closed the book. He'd only just started reading and his concentration had already flown out the window. He stuffed the book into his bag and left the classroom. He didn't know if there was anyone else except him left in the building, so he flicked the lights off and made way for the exit.

He stopped at his locker on the way out, deciding to ease the weight of his bag by removing a few books. However, when he opened his locker, he found something that made him forget all about his bag. In fact, he dropped said bag to the floor with a loud thud.

All his books had been neatly shuffled to the side, leaving the middle of his locker clear for a card and a piece of paper. When his eyes landed on the small card, his eyebrows went all the way up to his hairline.

It was a faction-change card for the World, a card that would allow him to switch to the Dark side without paying. Though this card was special. It would allow Ichigo to change into a Dark sider and keep his class as a brawler. If Ichigo used this, he'd probably be the only Dark side brawler on the server.

"The fuck..." he mumbled to himself as he flipped the card, searching for a sign that would prove it was fake. _These things are expensive as shit!_

Ichigo tore his eyes away from the card and picked up the piece of paper instead. His jaw dropped and he stared at it for almost a minute before his brain could comprehend the short handwritten message.

_Ya up fer a little challenge, Ichigo Kurosaki?_

_-Panthera_

**xxxxxxxxxx**

AN; _Alright, first I wanna apologize for the crappy writing at the point where Ichi is searching for Panthera, it's kinda (really) messy and it looks like I just threw some random words together... Gah!_

_Mah, well, can this count as a cliffhanger? I don't think so, buuuuut... myeah :D_

_Ci vediamo, mia tesorini!_


	4. Challenged pt 1

**Just a game?**

**Chapter four – Challenged pt. 1**

**xxxxxxxxxx**

_Ya up fer a little challenge, Ichigo Kurosaki?_

_-Panthera_

Ichigo stared at the note. His jaw was still hanging down, forming his mouth in a comical 'o'. His throat had gone dry. When he finally snapped out of his daze, he slowly closed his lips and he had to swallow thickly a few times before he could speak.

"What the hell..." he breathed out. He threw his head to the side, scanning the hall. It was empty, but Ichigo couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched, even though he knew he was the only one left in school, considering he had stayed after hours to study.

Suddenly feeling extremely vulnerable, he quickly stuffed his books into his bag and slammed his locker shut before hastily making his way for the exit.

Once outside, he slowed down. He was sucking in slow, deep breaths as he tried to calm his nerves. _Panthera... he knows who I am. _Ichigo shook his head roughly a few times. _No, what's worse, he knows where I go to school. Hell, he even knows the number to my locker!_

He slowly ran a hand through his hair. He wasn't in the least intimidated by Panthera, but the situation was creepy since there was absolutely nothing Ichigo could do about it. He couldn't go beat the crap of this guy, he couldn't confront the guy and tell him where to shove his notes. But Panthera could keep on teasing him, making him feel uncomfortable...

He groaned and placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling how tense he had become. He pressed down hard on his aching muscles and shivered from the sensation. Maybe Yuzu would give him a massage later...

"What's up with you, shit head?"

Ichigo flinched and looked to his side, surprised to see Shinji walking next to him. _When the fuck..?_ He hadn't heard him coming at all.

"Nothing," Ichigo shrugged and tried to equip a casual expression. "And don't call me a shit head, fuck face."

"Nothing my ass," Shinji frowned and crossed his arms. "I was walking next to you for almost five minutes and you didn't even notice. If you're that distracted, something's on your mind, asshole."

Ichigo groaned again. He didn't want to discuss this with anyone, particularly not Shinji. The blonde had a habit of teasing Ichigo because of his gaming, so this would probably only make him even more spiteful. "It's nothing important," he said.

Shinji fell silent and studied him from the corner of his eyes for a few moments. Then, much to Ichigo's annoyance, he snorted loudly.

"Aah, let me guess," he said with a voice dripping with disdain. "This has something to do with that stupid-ass game, right?"

Ichigo stuck his hands in his pockets and scowled. "Maybe it does, so what?" he snapped. "All the more reason for me not to bother you with it."

"Oh no," Shinji said in monotone. "Please tell me what it is. I really want to know, Kurosaki-san."

"Shut up, prick," Ichigo scoffed and punched Shinji's shoulder.

Shinji let escape his usual cackling laughter. He locked his hands behind his head and turned to face Ichigo. "So?" he said gleefully. "Gonna tell me what it is?"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at him. "Why do you want to know?" he asked, thoroughly surprised.

"I dunno," Shinji chuckled and shrugged. "Just curious."

Ichigo eyed him suspiciously before sighing. "Well," he started, not sure how to say what had happened without sounding like a scared little girl. "About a week ago, I had a duel with another player. I lost. Then I challenged the guy again, and this time I won. I was satisfied with that, but a few minutes ago, I found this..." He pulled out the note and gave it to Shinji along with the faction-change card, "in my locker."

"Panthera..?" Shinji wondered out loud as he finished reading the note.

"That's the name of the player I battled," Ichigo explained. "So, this guy knows who I am and where I go to school."

"Oh," Shinji mumbled distantly. He was quiet for a few moments. "Well, Ichi," he finally said and handed over the note. "I don't know what the big deal is, you just use the card and tell him to stop bugging you."

"But if I use the card, I won't be able to switch my character back into my previous faction," Ichigo stated and stared at the card for a few seconds before throwing it back into his bag.

"Oh, what a great loss that would be," Shinji teased. "What, you'd lose your 'reputation' and the ability to chat with those other twerps who play this? Oh yeah, I can see why this is _such_ a hard decision for you."

Ichigo didn't even bother to reply. Instead he considered Shinji's words. It would be easiest to just ignore it all, but Ichigo knew he wouldn't be able to do it. He just didn't have enough patience for that. At the same time as he just wanted to tell Panthera to fuck off, he was also curious as to what the challenge was. _Damn this curiosity to hell. _And Shinji was right, he wouldn't lose anything special by switching. On the contrary, he would be the only dark side brawler on the server. _Probably._

"Fine," he said after a few minutes' silence. "I'll switch factions and tell Panthera to shove his challenge up his ass."

Shinji threw his head back and laughed. "Tell me how it went tomorrow, Ichi," he said between laughs and patted Ichigo on his shoulder before turning on the heel and walking away.

"Nn," was all Ichigo replied.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

When Ichigo ten minutes later sat down in front of his computer, he started feeling a bit nervous. Depending on what Panthera's challenge was, he could respond in various ways. Which meant he couldn't prepare himself by coming up with some snappy comebacks.

Ichigo erased the thoughts with a snort. He opened the internet and typed the World's homepage url. He scanned the page for the faction-change page and quickly located it. He picked up the card and hovered his fingertips over the keys, hesitating slightly.

_Get over yourself, dude. _

With a small smirk, Ichigo typed in the code and pressed 'enter'. He tapped his fingers to the table while he waited for the page to load. A slightly guilty feeling crawled in the back of his mind; he should be studying for his history test.

That feeling was quickly washed away when the internet browser informed him his change had been completed. With rising heartbeat, he equipped his emulator and opened the World.

He spawned in the middle of Las Noches, just outside the tower he'd been standing on just a few days ago. His turned his head to the sides, observing his new surroundings. Some of the other players eyed him suspiciously, and he could just barely make out what they said.

"Isn't that the guy from a few days ago?"

"He's that brawler who beat Panthera..."

"Why is he here?"

Ichigo ignored them and observed his own character instead. He still looked like a human, but his ears had grown longer and some features, like his hands, were a bit sharper. _A dark elf. _He couldn't help but grin as he adjusted his fist weapons. _The only dark elf brawler on this server._

"Ya seem satisfied," someone breathed right into his ear.

Ichigo flinched and quickly turned around only to stand face to face with Panthera. For a few seconds, Ichigo just stared at him. His voice had sounded different than when he'd heard him speak in the foreign language. It had sounded dull, like he was speaking in monotone. Now, however, his voice was deep and husky.

Ichigo crossed his arms and leaned back on his heels. "Maybe," he huffed and turned his eyes to the cerulean blue that glared at him from underneath that mask. "So, what's the challenge?"

Panthera chuckled. "Why the rush?" he said and shrugged. "Now that yer here, we've got all the time we need, Ichigo."

"Don't use my name," Ichigo snapped. "This is a game, so you should only use the character's name."

"But Ichigo sounds better than 'Goichi'," Panthera mused. "Or I can just call ya strawberry."

"Fuck you," Ichigo growled darkly. He hated that nickname, and he had sworn to beat the living shit out of anyone who dared call him that.

A hyena-like laughter made Ichigo look behind the hybrid. The tall warrior with the huge axe was sitting on a bench behind Panthera, along with the shaman and the silver-haired mage. They were all casually following the conversation.

"Someone's shoved a stick up the berry's ass," the warrior snorted.

"Shh." The shaman placed a finger to her lips and quickly glanced at Ichigo before looking at the warrior. "You're interrupting them, Nnoi."

"Don't order me around, brat!" 'Nnoi' snarled and spat on the ground. "I'll do whatever the fuck I want."

"Calm down, ne?" the mage said. He was wearing the same wide smile as before. "I dun wanna miss the show."

Just as Nnoi was about to give a sour retort, Panthera glanced at them over his shoulder. "Shut yer traps, would ya? I'm tryin' to have a serious conversation over here."

The trio at the bench fell silent and Panthera turned back to Ichigo. "So," he said. "The challenge."

Ichigo gave him a curt nod.

"Ya ever heard of 'Hollow'?" Panthera asked.

Ichigo cocked an eyebrow at him. Hollow was one of the most famous guilds in the World. Last year they had come in third in the Annual Guild Tournament. _The World's third best guild._

"Yeah, of course I have," he said, wondering why the hybrid would ask him that.

"Then ya probably know what this is?" Panthera pulled his right arm out of the sleeve of his jacket and twisted it so Ichigo could see a skull-shaped tattoo on his underarm.

Ichigo's eyes widened. The tattoo was shaped exactly like the logo of Hollow. If Panthera had the tattoo, that must mean...

"You're a member of Hollow..?" he breathed out, unable to keep a slight hint of respect out of his tone.

"'S right," Panthera chuckled and put on his jacket again. "Currently ranked sixth, see?" He turned around so Ichigo could clearly see a big number '6' tattooed on his lower back.

_How the fuck was I ever able to beat this guy!_

"Why do you ask me this?" Ichigo asked after a few moments of admiring the tattoo.

"Well, Ichigo," Panthera said as he turned back to face the brawler. "It's all part of yer challenge."

"Which is..?"

Panthera studied him for a moment. Ichigo flinched slightly under the sharp gaze the hybrid sent him. It was almost like those clear blue eyes held his own in a steady grip, forbidding him to look away. So creepy yet so damn captivating...

After a few electrically charged seconds, Panthera raised his voice.

"I want ya to do the same as I did." When Ichigo looked confused, he sighed. "Meaning I want ya to find me in real life."

Ichigo's jaw dropped to the ground. Whatever he had expected, it was not this. "What the..." he started, but somehow it seemed as if his brain had forgotten how to form full sentences. "How am I ever supposed to... Wait, what does Hollow have to do with any of this?"

"That's the best part, Ichigo," Panthera said, and Ichigo frowned at the amused undertone in his voice. "If ya complete the challenge, yer gonna get an invitation to Hollow."

Awestruck, Ichigo clenched his teeth together to avoid saying something stupid. His heart was pounding against his ribs and his mouth had gone dry. _No way..._ He slowly licked his lips before speaking.

"You serious?" he asked quietly. When Panthera nodded, he straightened his back and narrowed his eyes. "And what happens if I don't complete the challenge?"

"Hmmh..." Panthera sighed and tilted his head to the right. "I'll have one of my pals hack into yer account an' destroy it."

Ichigo resisted a sudden and bizarre impulse to laugh. _This guy can't be serious. _"So..." he said slowly, a hint of sarcasm hidden in his tone. "Let's pretend for a second I accept; how much time exactly will I have to complete this challenge?"

"A week."

"But it's fucking impossible!" Ichigo exclaimed and threw his arms out to the sides. "I have nothing to go on, you could be anyone!"

Panthera threw his head back and a barking laughter erupted from his throat, a laughter that made the hair on Ichigo's arms stand up straight. "Fer the school's top student, yer not very bright, huh?"

Ichigo felt his face heat up. "Sh-shut up!" he growled and clenched his fists. "Karakura university has over 250 students, so it'd be like trying to find a needle in a haystack!"

"Mah, well..." Panthera chuckled. Ichigo got the feeling he was having tons of fun. "I can tell ya I've scanned my picture into the World, so this character looks exactly like me."

"Then how about you take off that mask of yours?" Ichigo asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

"Now that wouldn't be any fun at all, would it?" Panthera mused and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Can't make it too easy, that'd be boring."

Ichigo fell silent as he studied the hybrid. The most striking feature was his hair. That shimmering blue was hard to _not _notice, but Ichigo couldn't remember seeing the color at school. He was tall and he had the body of a greek god, with muscles decorating his front. Once again, Ichigo's brain registered how dangerously low Panthera's belts hung at his waist.

Ichigo shook his head as if trying to get rid of an annoying fly. _Focus._

"So..." he started slowly. "I only know you attend the same school, your hair is blue and... well, that's pretty much it," he finished with a frown. Panthera just stood still and observed him. "Oh," he added. "Have we even met, have we ever talked to each other?"

Panthera was silent for a few moments while he absentmindedly scratched his neck. "Yeah, we have," he finally said.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. There was something familiar in the hybrid, but he couldn't remember where he would've seen him. He mentally slapped himself, cursing his habit of forgetting names and faces.

The whole idea was ridiculous. This was the same as just giving away his character. If Panthera really had friends who could hack his account, he'd never be able to play again. _But an invitation to Hollow..._The offer sure was tempting. Ichigo had read online about the guild's activities, and from what he'd read, they were almost unbeatable. Their leader, Aizen, was a Fallen Angel, an extremely rare race which had been rewarded to ten players in the entire game a few years ago, in a special event.

"Well?" Panthera asked, bringing Ichigo's thoughts back to reality.

Ichigo glared at him. This could all be a trick. A prank to waste his time. But at the same time as this thought appeared in his mind, his curiosity kept on eating him from the inside. _Take it, take it, go on, take it!_ He clenched his fists and took a deep breath."... Fine," he said. He looked at Panthera and noticed a flash of triumph in his eyes. "I accept the challenge."

**xxxxxxxxxx**

"So you log on to tell this guy to fuck off, but instead you just happen to accept his challenge?"

Ichigo sighed and nodded at Shinji. They were sitting in the back of the class and Ichigo had just told Shinji about what had happened in the World.

Shinji leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head. "And you've got one week to figure out who this guy is?" he asked.

"Yes," Ichigo confirmed for the third time today. "And I have no idea where to start. I only know he goes to this school..." An unwelcome shiver ran down his spine. "Suddenly it feels like everyone's staring at me," he groaned and roughly ruffled his hair. "It's annoying the shit out of me."

"Well, at least you've got an entire week," Shinji said as he rocked his chair back and forth. "And so what if you lose? You'll finally get your chance to stop playing that game."

"Why do I even bother telling you this?" Ichigo scowled and rested his head in his hands. "You're just making fun of me."

"Of course I am," Shinji said bluntly, as if it was obvious. "You make it so easy I'd have to be retarded if I didn't mess with you, I-chi-go."

As much as Ichigo would've loved to punch his face in right now, he had to remind himself he was in the middle of class, and he doubted Kuchiki would be pleased with a fistfight in the back of his classroom.

**Day one of the challenge, tuesday**

Ichigo spent his lunch brake standing by the large windows that showed the schoolyard, observing every student that left or entered the building. His eyes grew wide and his heart started beating faster every time he saw something blue, and he sighed in disappointment every time he realized he'd just seen a blue hoodie or a blue stripe on someone's backpack.

He felt slightly uncomfortable. He couldn't shake off that feeling of being watched, and it was tearing his patience apart. The feeling left him in a terrible mood, and as if the other students could feel his annoyance, they averted their eyes and walked in small circles around him.

Ichigo lightly kicked the wall in front of him when the bell signaled the end of lunch brake. He hoisted his bag up on his shoulder and started making his way for class. It wasn't until he read a small note hanging on the door that he remembered today's history lesson had been canceled. Their teacher had sent them e-mails where he explained he was sick, and they should study at home instead.

_Great, nothing to do for two hours..._

All the other students had disappeared into their classrooms, leaving Ichigo standing alone in the quiet hall. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other while trying to decide what he should do now. He didn't have enough time to go home and relax, Shinji had chemistry at the moment, and he didn't want to go to the library again.

He steered his steps to the roof. He hadn't been up there for a while, and the warmth of may's sun could maybe get him to relax. He scaled the stairs to the highest floor and pushed open the door to the roof.

For a second, Ichigo was satisfied with his decision to come to the roof. There was a slight breeze mixed with the warm sunshine, and he couldn't hear the traffic from here. Then he realized with horror he'd walked straight into hell.

On the far side of the roof, he could make out around ten other students. Some of them sat on benches, others leaned against the steel fence. They were all dressed in either black, red or grey, and almost as if the rays of the sun couldn't reach them, they radiated a dark, menacing aura. They seemed to have been in the middle of a conversation, but the second Ichigo had opened the door, they all stopped talking and turned around to glare at him. It felt like their eyes pierced holes through Ichigo's body. They looked like a mafia, like they were ready to kill him if someone only gave the order.

Ichigo swallowed thickly before closing the door behind him and walking to the other side of the roof, as far away from the group as possible. Once he turned his back to them, they continued their conversation. Ichigo rummaged through his bag for his cellphone. He flipped it open and hastily sent Shinji a short message.

"_Can u talk?"_

While he waited for a response, he perked his ears and tried to listen to what the group was talking about. He couldn't make out any sentences, but whatever they were talking about, it must've been entertaining, because some of them started laughing while others just snorted loudly.

A buzz in his hand made him quickly glance at his phone.

"_Sure, ain't got nothing better to do, sup?"_

Ichigo fumbled with his phone for a few seconds, trying to come up with a good way to ask Shinji if he knew anything about the gang.

"_What the hell is up with the mafia on the roof!"_

He didn't want to seem panicky, but the group radiated such a strong bloodlust, it almost made Ichigo wonder why they hadn't attacked and eaten him yet. He looked at his phone and noticed he'd gotten a reply from Shinji.

"_R u on the roof..?"_

__Ichigo just responded with a _"yea"_, but before he could even close the screen, his phone started ringing. When he saw Shinji's number blinking on the screen, he narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"Why are you calling me, aren't you in-" he started when he lifted the phone to his ear, but Shinji interrupted him.

"Ichi, get out of there," he hissed. Ichigo arched an eyebrow at his concerned tone. "I'm serious, get your ass down from the roof right now!"

"Why?" Ichigo mumbled, glancing over his shoulder at the group. "Nothing's bad going on, I just wanted to know..."

"Yeah, I'll explain it all to you, just get the fuck out of there!"

Ichigo's eyes widened. He had never heard Shinji sound this freaked out.

"Alright, alright, I'm going," he said and lifted up his bag again. "But you'd better explain why you're freaking out like this."

"After class," was all Shinji said before ending the call.

Confused, Ichigo stared at the phone. _What the hell's wrong with him? _He let the phone slide back into his bag. He braced himself and took a deep breath before quickly walking towards the door. Once again, the group grew silent and their eyes turned to look at him. He ignored them as best he could, and he dared to breathe again once the door had closed behind him.

_Holy shit, that's some heavy atmosphere!_

Ichigo sat down beside the door to Shinji's class and waited. He was so eager to hear what the big deal with the group on the roof was, he'd forgotten all about Panthera's challenge. He pulled out his history book and started reading, almost being able to concentrate.

He could hear movement from inside the classroom, and suddenly the door was slid open. Shinji stormed out of the room, and when he noticed Ichigo, he walked straight up to him without a word, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him down the hall.

"Oi!" Ichigo protested, trying to release himself from Shinji's vice grip. "I can walk on my own, let go!"

Shinji scowled and let go of his shirt. He was equipped with a both concerned and furious expression, and before Ichigo could even formulate a question in his mind, he was taken aback by the tone of Shinji's voice.

"What the hell is wrong with you, shit head?" the blonde snapped. He crossed his arms over his chest and seemed to radiate the same sort of murderous intent Ichigo had felt on the roof. "Are you trying to get a one-way ticket to the hospital or something?"

Ichigo couldn't help but snort at this choice of words. His light attitude didn't help Shinji's mood at all.

"Oh, you think it's funny, do you?" he snarled. "Dammit, Ichi, you'd been better off walking into a lion's den. The roof is off limits to everybody, even you should know that!"

"What's the big deal?" Ichigo wondered out loud. "I was just curious who they were, that's all."

"Curious, you say?" Shinji snorted. "The last kid who went to the roof was beat up to the point where he didn't even know what his name was! Those guys on the roof are brutal, and they pretty much tear apart everyone and everything that sets a foot in their territory."

"How am I supposed to know that?" Ichigo mumbled and rubbed his forehead. "I've never heard of them."

Shinji shook his head and sighed. "One of these days," he said with a hint of worry in his voice, "Your ignorance is gonna be the death of you, Ichi."

"Shut up, Shin," Ichigo said and leaned back on his heels. "I'm not stupid."

"Then stop doing things that make you look like a retard," Shinji retorted. "Seriously, everybody knows that if you wanna live, you don't go to the roof."

"Well, I'm not dead yet, am I," Ichigo said. "So as far as I can see, my visit to the roof was no harm whatsoever."

Shinji eyed him suspiciously before leaning against the wall. "Maybe so," he huffed. "But I suggest not going back there. They might not be so friendly if you show up again."

"I'll keep that in mind."

**Day two of the challenge, wednesday**

It wasn't until Ichigo had gotten home last night he realized he'd forgotten to work on his challenge. Frustrated he had made no progress at all, he decided to check this year's yearbook in the library for someone who resembled Panthera.

He stayed after hours again. He put down his bag and his jacket on an empty table and started walking along the bookcases, tracing the titles with his fingers. He stopped every now and then when he found something that looked interesting, but moved on once he'd reminded himself he was here for research, not for fun. When he passed the history book he should be reading, he felt that familiar sting of guilt. The test was in a week, and so far he hadn't studied at all.

Ichigo made a silent promise to himself that he would study as soon as he'd completed the challenge. He moved to the final bookcase, where he finally found the yearbook. He grabbed it and trotted back to the table, where he sat down and flipped the book open. He turned page after page, searching for photos of each grade.

He stopped at the middle, where a large picture of all the students of the school. Ichigo chuckled quietly when his eyes found Shinji, who at the time had just attempted to jump up on Ichigo's shoulders. Shinji was grinning widely and waving to the camera while Ichigo looked both amused and annoyed at the same time.

He flipped the page and found a headline, _"Students of class 3"_. He narrowed his eyes and started scanning page after page, searching for even the smallest hint of blue. Now and then, he let out a snort when he found someone who had dressed up in ridiculous clothes or who had struck idiotic poses in front of the camera.

Ichigo sighed when he finished the third graders' pages. So far, no sight of anyone who could look, even if just a little, like Panthera. When he opened the next chapter, _"Students of class 2"_, his eyes were immediately pulled to Shinji's picture. He was dressed in a green/yellow tight t-shirt, he had rings and strings tied around his arms and he was sticking out his tongue, showing his tongue piercing to everybody. Ichigo's smirk widened. He remembered Shinji had complained about how short his hair had been cut, how he had been worried he wouldn't look _fantastic_ in the picture. But as much as Ichigo hated to admit it, the picture radiated such a strong feeling of self esteem, Shinji would've probably looked good whatever kind of pose he'd pulled.

Ichigo averted his gaze to his own picture, which was quite boring compared to Shinji's. He was wearing a loose t-shirt, semi-tight jeans and he had quite large headphones covering his ears, and he didn't even look into the camera. He was sitting on the ground, leaning his head back at a wall. In fact, now that he thought about it, he didn't even remember when this had been taken. They must've taken it when he wasn't paying attention...

He was just about to start scanning the whole page when his eyes stopped at a picture between his own and Shinji's. _Grimmjow Jaegerjaques._ Ichigo's eyes widened slightly as they traveled over the picture. Grimmjow looked exactly the same as when Ichigo had bumped into him; he had dragged his hood over his head and all the way down to his eyebrows, making his face look creepily highlighted, his lips were curled upwards in that devilish grin and he was standing with his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall behind him. _Perfect picture._ Ichigo could feel his face start heating up, and he mentally slapped himself.

_C'mon, stop acting like a girl and get back to work!_

He threw the picture one last gaze before returning to his task. He rested his head in his hand and resumed his searching. Picture after picture got printed into his brain, but not a single student came close to the appearance of Panthera.

He only halfheartedly flipped over to the first graders' pages since he couldn't imagine Panthera would be younger than him. As Ichigo scanned the pages, he couldn't help but snort at the clothes some of these students were wearing; they looked ridiculous. _And their hairstyles... _One of the younger girls had even colored her hair green. Or maybe it was her natural color. Ichigo chuckled as his eyes traveled over the picture of the girl. She was, no doubt, very beautiful, and her body was modeling material. On second thought, the green hair suited her very well.

_Wait a second..._

Ichigo stared at the green-haired girl. _Neliel Tu Oderschwanck._ Her big grey eyes, the wavy, long hair and that innocent smile reminded him a bit too much of the shaman who had been following Panthera around, the shaman who had interrupted their duel.

He stared at the picture for almost five minutes to ensure he would remember her face. Then, without bothering to look at the rest of the page, he slammed the book shut and put it back to where he'd taken it. He grabbed his things and trotted out of the library, trying to think of a way to find out if Neliel really was the shaman.

As he opened his locker to take out a few books, Ichigo decided he would try to find her tomorrow. If he could get to know her, maybe she would lead him to Panthera.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

AN; _Thoughts so far?_

_Ci vediamo, mia tesorini!_


	5. Challenged pt 2

**Just a game?**

**Chapter five – Challenged pt. 2**

**xxxxxxxxxx**

**Day three of the challenge, thursday**

Ichigo couldn't help but feel like a stalker as he sat on the bleachers, watching the girls from the first class play football. He was thankful he wasn't the only one; this was obviously a popular spot to eat lunch at. Other students, mostly guys, were sitting spread out along the stands, eating and chatting and now and then throwing a nonchalant gaze at the running girls.

Ichigo had since long recognized Neliel in the hoop of girls since she was the only one with such an exotic hair color. He had also noticed she was the best player of all the girls on the field. She was faster and she wasn't afraid to get dirty. When their teacher made her play as the goalie, she threw herself after the ball without hesitation, as if her life depended on it. Ichigo found it quite amusing to sit and watch the rest of the girls scream when one of their manicured nails broke or when the ball was fired in their direction.

Just as he was about to start thinking about how to get close to Neliel, a perfect opportunity presented itself; one of the girls had managed to kick the ball way out of course, making it fly right in Ichigo's direction. He caught it and bounced it up and down in his hands a few times before someone called out to him. He looked up and was pleased to see it was Neliel who came running to fetch the ball.

"Sorry about that," she chirped as she ran up to him. "It was an accident, she didn't mean... to..." Her eyes widened in recognition and she stopped dead a few feet away from Ichigo._ Bingo._ Ichigo had to bite his teeth together to keep from laughing at her mortified expression. Instead he threw the ball to her and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Nothing to worry about," he said with a small triumphant grin.

Neliel caught the ball and opened her mouth to say something, but when nothing came out, she turned around and ran back to her friends. Ichigo stood watching her for a few more minutes before walking back inside the school.

He'd made progress in his challenge, and it made him feel strangely calm. He took advantage of this feeling and trotted to the library and sat down with his history book. Finally able to concentrate, he spent the rest of his brake reading about the greek gods and their myths. When the bell signaled the continuation of his lessons, he reluctantly put away his book while praying his concentration would last the entire day.

No such luck.

Ichigo made the big mistake of telling Shinji about his progress, making the blonde start suggesting various ways how to make Neliel say who Panthera really is. Ichigo tried his best to keep his expression calm and composed, seeing as their teacher in economics, Zaraki Kenpachi, wasn't one to appreciate noise during his lessons. But when Shinji jokingly suggested kidnapping Neliel and violating her until she told the truth, Ichigo momentarily forgot his surroundings and loudly told Shinji to "Shut the fuck up!". He heard the entire class gasp in unison and a nanosecond later, the back of his head was presented to Zaraki's rock-hard fist. Unprepared, Ichigo's head was snapped forward and he banged his forehead to his desk.

"What the hell!" he snarled and turned around in his seat. He found his teacher standing behind him and he couldn't help but flinch at the dangerous aura the older man radiated.

"What the hell indeed, Ichigo," Zaraki rumbled darkly as he leisurely strolled past him back to the front of the class. "Cursing in my class will lead to a good beating, so shut the fuck up if you don't wanna leave this room with a cracked skull."

Ichigo spent the rest of the lesson trying to ignore a throbbing headache and Shinji's muffled giggling. He kept his eyes on his papers and didn't look up until class was over. He carefully directed his fingers to the back of his head, and his body gave a light shudder when he found the fresh bruise.

Silently cursing at his teacher and at Shinji, he quickly escaped the room and headed towards the gymnasium. Running around the school's area or playing basketball was the last thing he wanted to do right now, but he didn't want to skip any lessons, even is the lessons were unnecessary as hell. He used two fingers to rub small circles into his temple in an attempt to ease the headache, but after five minutes of trying, he sighed and gave up.

_This is gonna be hell..._

**xxxxxxxxxx**

When Ichigo staggered through his front door a few hours later, the headache had evolved into a painful migraine. He noticed Yuzu was already at home and when he entered the kitchen, she greeted him with a big smile.

"Hello, big brother!" she said happily and ran up to him to give him a hug. "What's wrong, you look like you're ill."

"Got a headache," Ichigo mumbled and patted her on the head. "Could you fetch me the painkillers?"

"Of course," Yuzu said and walked towards the stairs. "You'd better go lie down and rest, big brother!" she added and looked at him from the doorway. "I'll bring a glass of water and the medicine to your room."

"Thanks, Yuzu," Ichigo said quietly and followed her up the stairs. He could hear Yuzu search for the pills in the bathroom as he entered his room, and he grimaced as he felt his migraine throb when he sat down on the edge of his bed. A few moments later, Yuzu walked in. She gave him two small pills and handed him the glass. "I'll be downstairs preparing dinner," she said softly and left the room.

Ichigo swallowed his medicine and placed the glass on his nightstand. "Damn that Zaraki..." he sighed and carefully leaned his head on the pillow. He crawled in under his blankets and closed his eyes.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

Ichigo didn't know if he'd fallen asleep or not, but he opened his eyes when he heard a shout from downstairs. He blinked a few times to clear his vision and looked at the clock. 6;43 PM. _Then the __sound was the old man... _He turned to the other side and closed his eyes again, wanting to fall asleep, but his body stiffened when he heard loud footsteps bounding up the stairs. _Oh fuck..._

"My Ichigo is sick! I must see him immediately, he might be resting on his deathbed!"

Ichigo groaned and sat up. His headache hadn't completely vanished, but it had grown a little weaker. Still, he didn't feel good enough to start dealing with his father's overenthusiastic parenting.

He heard the footsteps get closer, but before they reached his door, Ichigo could hear a grunt followed by a loud thud.

"Ichi-nii needs to rest, stupid goat face!" a voice hissed. Ichigo let out a sigh of relief and lay back down. He heard a dragging noise and figured his little sister was dragging Isshin back downstairs. _Thanks, Karin..._

He closed his eyes again and it didn't take long before he drifted off to sleep.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

**Day four of the challenge, friday**

Ichigo woke up from hunger growling in his stomach. His room was dark. He carefully shook his head and found his headache was gone. Feeling refreshed, Ichigo hoisted himself up from his bed and turned on the lamp on his desk. He frowned when he saw his clock show 2;14 AM.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, he left his room and quietly walked downstairs and into the kitchen. Yuzu had left his dinner on the stove before going to bed. He switched on the stove and grabbed a soda from the refrigerator while he waited for his food to heat up. He really hoped the food would make him drowsy again, because he couldn't afford messing up his daily rhythm with the exams just a few days from now.

Ichigo grabbed a tray and loaded it with his food. After making sure the stove was switched off, he went back upstairs. He sat down at his desk and started eating. His eyes drifted to his computer and he considered quickly logging in. _Just a few minutes can't hurt..._ He started the machine and finished his meal while waiting for it to load.

"Thanks for the food," he mumbled as he sat down his chopsticks. He grabbed his emulator, and a few minutes later he was standing in Las Noches.

Ichigo had never played as a dark sider, so he started wandering around the streets of his new capital city. He pulled out his map and started marking shops and inns, knowing he'd forget where to find them otherwise. All the time he payed attention to the local chat, where people was selling gear they didn't need or searching for more players to go do some dungeons with. Ichigo was eager to try out the new dungeons the dark side presented, but they were from level 10-20, so he could go alone anytime.

The chat icon popped up on his screen. Already knowing who it might be, Ichigo clicked it and opened a chat with Panthera.

"_What's up, Ichigo?"_

Ichigo frowned. _"I told you to stop using my name."_

"_It's either Ichigo or strawberry, ya choose."_

His frown turned into a scowl. Panthera was messing with him, trying to piss him off, and Ichigo hated to admit it worked very well. _"Fuck off."_

"_Heheh, Ichigo it is. Aren't ya up a little late?"_

"_Right back at you."_

"_Naw, I can never sleep when it's a full moon."_

Ichigo lifted his emulator to his forehead and glanced out of the window. True enough, today's sky hosted a shining full moon. He replaced the emulator in time to see Panthera send another message.

"_So I heard ya found Nel?"_

"_If you mean Neliel, then yeah, I found her. Wasn't that hard really, not many walk around with green hair."_

"_So ya say, but ya still can't seem to find blue hair anywhere."_

Ichigo felt his face heat up. _"How do you know wether I've found you or not?"_

"_I have my ways."_

Ichigo cocked an eyebrow at the last remark. _"Care to share?"_

"_Nah, that'd spoil the fun. I'll let ya figure that out yerself."_

Ichigo leaned back in his chair and sighed. A question he'd been wanting to ask for a while now popped into his mind. _"Can I ask you something?"_

"_Shoot."_

"_Why me?"_

"_What do ya mean, 'why me'?"_

"_Why did you target me? In the beginning, I mean, how did you know who I was, why did you challenge me to find you?"_

It took Panthera quite long to answer, so Ichigo figured either he didn't know what to say, or he wrote a long message.

"_I targeted ya because of yer reputation, and dueling ya seemed to be the only way to get yer attention. Hollow's leader, Aizen, said ya would make a nice addition to the guild, so I wanted to test ya. And seriously, 'Goichi'? I've seen ya and yer name countless of times on top of the lists that announce every exam's scores. Once I saw yer hair color in-game, I figured it out. As to why I challenged ya to find me..."_

Ichigo snorted at the remark about his character's name, but instead of making a sour retort, he waited for Panthera to finish his sentence.

"_... well, I'll tell ya when, and if ya find me."_

Ichigo groaned in frustration. He started feeling tired again, so he decided it was time to go offline. _"Ok. Yeah, well... I'm gonna go sleep now, so..."_

"_See ya at school, Ichigo."_

**xxxxxxxxxx**

When Ichigo sat at his desk in biology class many hours later, the feeling of constantly being watched had returned. He tried his best to write down what his teacher Yoruichi said, but the uncomfortable feeling made him space out now and then.

When Yoruichi turned her back to the class to write something on the blackboard, Ichigo grabbed the opportunity to look around in the class. He saw Ishida frantically writing down notes, Chad was focused on what Yoruichi was writing, same with Tatsuki and Inoue. Ichigo turned slightly in his seat to get a good look at the students behind him, and his heart almost stopped beating when he saw who sat in the left corner.

Ichigo recognized that black hoodie with ease. Its owner seemed to be in deep sleep, resting his head in his arms over his desk. Ichigo's eyes widened when he remembered Shinji had told him he and Grimmjow attended the same biology class. _How the hell did I forget that?_

When Grimmjow stirred in his sleep, Ichigo quickly turned back to the blackboard. He suddenly felt nervous, his heart beating a little faster than before. He shook his head and turned his attention back to Yoruichi, who was done writing and now walking along the desks, waiting for her students to finish. Ichigo quickly started copying the notes off the blackboard, but when Yoruichi raised her voice, he couldn't help but look up.

"Grimmjow, I'd appreciate it if you didn't sleep in here."

Ichigo twisted his head backwards so fast it hurt. While massaging his sore neck, he watched Grimmjow slowly sit up straight.

"Sorry," he said quietly. His sleepy voice sent shivers down Ichigo's spine and he felt a blush covering his cheeks, but he didn't look away. "It won't happen again."

"Good. And make sure to sleep properly during the night," Yoruichi said before continuing her walk along the room.

Grimmjow stretched out in his chair and rubbed his eyes, and when he lowered his hand, his sleep-deprived eyes looked straight at Ichigo. For a few seconds, cerulean blue locked with chocolate brown. Then, that devilish grin appeared on Grimmjow's lips again, making Ichigo quickly turn back to the blackboard. _Calm down, calm down, calm down, just calm the fuck down!_ Ichigo could feel his blush had spread all the way to his ears and his heart was now running at double speed. He stared down in his notebook, trying to force himself to calm down.

After taking a few deep breaths, Ichigo could finally focus on Yoruichi again. He didn't dare to turn his head again, so he either kept his eyes on the blackboard or his notebook. He kept this up until the end of the lesson, but when he was about to leave the room, he glanced at Grimmjow from the corner of his eye. Grimmjow was busy storing away his books into his backpack, and when he hoisted his bag over his shoulder, he also grabbed the edge of his hood and pulled it as far down as it went. Ichigo narrowed his eyes at this, and as he started searching for Shinji, his mind was presented to a new question.

_Why does Grimmjow always wear his hood so low? _

Was there something weird about his hair? Ichigo remembered he'd worn his hood the same way in the yearbook. _What does Grimmjow not want to show the rest of the school? _If he didn't like his hair, then sure, it'd be understandable, but then why just not go get it cut differently?

It had to be the color. Grimmjow didn't like his hair color. Or didn't want to advertise it to the rest of the world. Ichigo could honestly say he understood the guy; he hadn't exactly had it easy with hair as orange as his.

_But hold up a second... _Ichigo stopped in the middle of the stream of chattering students. If Grimmjow's hair would be blue like his eyes... Blue like Panthera's hair... _That would mean Panthera is Grimmjow?_

Ichigo shook his head at the thought. _Impossible. _No matter how he looked at Grimmjow, he was sure he wasn't a gamer. Not a chance.

_But, _said a small voice in the back of his mind, _wouldn't it be nice if he really _was_ Panthera? Not only would you've found him, but you'd get a chance to get closer to him..._

Ichigo flickered his head to get rid of the thought. He continued searching for Shinji, hoping he could get distracted by getting revenge for yesterday by beating the blonde until he begged for mercy.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

**Day five of the challenge, saturday**

Ichigo spent most of his saturday forcing his brain to concentrate on his history book. It worked pretty well, even though Isshin decided to try to break his ribs in a 'loving' hug. Ichigo managed to survive by planting his elbow into his father's chin, sending the man flying out of the room. After yelling at his dad for a good three minutes, he slammed his door shut and resumed his reading.

He didn't look up from the book again until his phone started buzzing. Ichigo reluctantly tore his eyes away from the text and flipped open his phone to find a message from Shinji.

"_Ey Ichi, wanna come party tonight?"_

Ichigo sighed. It was typical of Shinji to send these kinds of messages when he needed to concentrate the most.

"_Why can't you go out and drink on fridays, like the rest of Karakura does? Half of the city's probably at home with a hangover, dude."_

He could practically hear Shinji laughing right now. Whatever you said to him, he would always laugh. He only had to wait a minute before he got an answer.

"_The other half is gonna go out party tonight. You coming?"_

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. He would probably end up going as Shinji's "ride home". Shinji often invited Ichigo along just to have someone carry his drunk self back to his house. Ichigo didn't know why he kept on saying yes, he figured he had just started feeling responsible for his best friend, at least when he was too drunk to walk.

"_Yeah, I'll come, where is it?"_

The giddy answer came about ten seconds later. _"I'll pick you up around 9 PM, k?"_

Ichigo sent him a quick "OK" before setting his phone down on his table. He threw an almost longing glance at the book on his table, but stood up, arched his back in a stretch, and left his room.

Well downstairs, he soundlessly sneaked to the doorway to the kitchen, careful not to inspire another "loving-father-hugs". Noticing Isshin was occupied doting over Yuzu, Ichigo took the opportunity to walk into the room.

"I'm not gonna be home tonight," he said and joined Karin on the couch. She was watching some random action movie. "I'm gonna go to Shinji's place to chill."

Heavy footsteps behind him indicated an attempt on a sneak attack by his ever so subtle father, so he bent down where he sat, pretending to pick something up from the floor. He heard Isshin's cry of surprise as he hugged thin air and crashed into the coffee table, followed by Karin's shriek of annoyance. Soon, a dead serious wrestling match between father and daughter took place in the middle of the living room.

Ichigo sighed at the pair and flipped his head back to give Yuzu an upside down look. "What's for dinner?" he asked while trying his best to ignore the very loud fight in front of his feet. Yuzu shook her head at her sister before turning back to the stove.

"I'm making beef stew with rice, big brother," she chimed and dipped the spatula into the pot, stirring a few times before slamming the cover back on and turning to the still ongoing battle. "Stop it, you two!" she called, crossing her arms over her chest. "Or there'll be no dinner for you!"

Isshin immediately stood up and threw Karin down on the couch before running up to Yuzu and threw his arms around her. "Papa's sorry!" he cried, sticking out his lower lip in an attempt to look cute and innocent. "Please don't leave papa without your delicious dinner, Yuzuuuu..."

Yuzu nodded in content and squirmed out of her overenthusiastic father's hold. "Then you can go make the table, dad," she said and resumed her cooking. Isshin muttered something under his breath but did as he was told. Ichigo watched the scene with an amused grin on his lips.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

A few hours later, Ichigo stood outside his house, waiting for a late Shinji to come pick him up. He was wearing a deep red hoodie over a form-fitting, white t-shirt, loose ripped jeans and comfortable black sneakers. He was currently seated on the porch, checking his cellphone every twenty seconds. Frustration had started building up again, but this time it was because of panic. Panic that he had absolutely nothing to go on considering Panthera's challenge, and he had to complete it in two days.

Ichigo looked up when he heard loud music getting closer and closer. Knowing very well his best friend loved to blast the music so loud half of the town could hear him, Ichigo stood up from his porch and strolled out to the street.

After a few earsplitting cheers, Ichigo sat in Shinji's car. Shinji seemed to be in a ridiculously good mood. He was grinning to himself, tapping the steering wheel and humming along the music, but when Ichigo asked what his deal was, he just shrugged and said "Party, honey, how can you _not_ be excited?"

Ichigo leaned back in his seat and sighed. _This is going to be a loooong night..._

Ten minutes later, Shinji parked his car in an alley behind Club Quincy. Ichigo prepared his brain for another headache when he heard the loud music and heavy bass coming from inside the club. Trying to shake off the negative thoughts, he followed Shinji through the back door.

Ichigo knew Shinji came here a lot, and that was probably why every staff member greeted him, high-fived him or playfully punched his shoulder. They passed through the final door and exited right next to the bar. Ichigo was greeted by a dancing, cheering and chattering crowd.

Thoroughly surprised at the amount of people, Ichigo didn't hear what Shinji was saying until he pinched his arm.

"Ow, shit!" he exclaimed and scowled at the blonde. "What did you do that for?"

"To get your attention, stupid," Shinji grinned. He leaned against the bar and nodded towards the distinguished-looking bartender behind him. "This is Shawlong," he said. "He'll give you anything you need."

Ichigo shook Shawlong's hand and ordered a beer. He sat down at the end of the bar and rested his elbows on the sleek wood and watched Shinji stride off into the crowds holding a drink of his own.

"So you're Shin's ride home tonight, huh?" Shawlong asked when he put down the beer next to Ichigo. "He comes here every saturday with different people, and they all seem to exist only to make sure he gets home."

"Yeah, tonight it's my turn," Ichigo chuckled and took a sip from his glass. "Though I'm not really sure how he keeps persuading me to come... he has a talent for that, I guess."

"They all say the same thing," Shawlong said with a shrug. "People like Shin attract others, I think. Others are drawn to personalities like his."

Ichigo scanned the crowds while considering Shawlong's words. It was true, Shinji did attract a lot of people. He had a talent for convincing others of what he thought was right, he could make someone change their minds in a matter of seconds. Ichigo hated to admit it, but he sometimes found himself envious of this ability.

After a few minutes, Shinji returned to the bar for another drink. His cheeks were dusted a light pink and he was breathing a little faster than usual.

"You should come dance, Ichi," he grinned and pointed in the direction of the dance floor. "It's fun."

"I think I'll pass," Ichigo said and raised his glass in salute. "But you go have your fun, and tell me when you wanna leave, I'll take... you..."

Ichigo's eyes widened and he stopped in the middle of his sentence. His eyes had just landed on a mass of light blue hair. What he saw made his breath flee his lungs with such haste, it took him a few moments to realize he wasn't breathing. _That blue..._

"I'll be right back, Shin," he breathed out and darted away from the bar.

_That blue... it has to be him!_

He made his way across the dance floor, trying his best not to lose sight of the shimmering blue as he was pushed around by the dancing crowd. When someone shoved him to the side quite harshly, he momentarily lost sight of his target.

"Fuck..." he mumbled as he twisted his head back and forth, but he couldn't find even a hint of blue. "_Fuck!_" Disappointment rose inside of him again, but then his eyes landed on a ladder, leading up to a balcony-like floor above the dance floor.

Ichigo quickly moved to the ladder, scaled it, and positioned himself in the middle of the balcony. Narrowing his eyes to get a clearer sight at the crowds, he grabbed hold of the railing and let his gaze stop at every person in the club.

When he finally found the blue color again, his heart started racing at double speed. The blue-haired person was leaning against a wall, hands in his pocket. Next to him stood a green-haired girl who Ichigo recognized as Neliel Tu Oderschwanck. She was chattering and laughing, tugging at the sleeve of the blue-haired man. The man shook his head and seemed to sigh, but followed Neliel out on the dance floor.

A flash of red light lit up the man's face, and Ichigo's jaw dropped to the floor. Those piercing blue eyes, that wide feral grin...

_Grimmjow Jaegerjaques. Grimmjow fucking Jaegerjaques is Panthera._

**xxxxxxxxxx**

**Day six of the challenge, sunday**

Ichigo didn't quite remember how he got home after the party. He vaguely remembered dropping off a drunk Shinji at his house before walking home. All this time, his head was spinning with questions, all of which had something to do with Grimmjow.

At the moment, he was walking around in circles in his room, trying to answer one question at the time. _This explains why Grimmjow was so tired in biology class; he hadn't been able to sleep because of the full moon._ Ichigo mentally slapped himself for not noticing it sooner; it had been so obvious.

Panthera had also said they had talked before, and that was true, although their short interaction had consisted of Ichigo stuttering like a bloody retard. _Oh god, this was embarrassing!_ Karakura University's top delinquent, the mighty Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, had challenged him to find him. And then what? If Ichigo confronted Grimmjow, what would happen then? Sure, he had been promised an invitation to Hollow, but that was inside The World. What did Grimmjow want with him in real life?

Ichigo fisted his hair and groaned. According to Shinji, this guy was dangerous. And what if Ichigo was wrong, what if Grimmjow wasn't Panthera? Then, apart from being humiliated beyond imagine, he would probably get beaten half to death. So, he could either end up with everything a World gamer would want, or...

Shivering at the thought, Ichigo let himself fall down on his bed. Thankfully, he was no coward. He saw no other than confront Grimmjow, and if the guy wanted a fight, he wouldn't back down with his tail between his legs.

_A fifty-fifty chance on a ticket for hell or heaven. Fucking awesome..._

**xxxxxxxxxx**

**Day seven of the challenge, monday**

"You've lost your fucking mind, Ichigo!"

Shinji was staring at him as if staring at a mentally sick patient. Ichigo avoided his eyes as they walked through the mass of students. After a few moments of staring, Shinji let loose a nervous laugh.

"Oh, I get it," he said. "You're joking. God, Ichi, don't scare me like that."

"I'm serious, stupid," Ichigo frowned and crossed his arms. He had already made up his mind, and nothing the blonde said would made him reconsider. "I just need you to tell me where to find him."

Shinji clicked his tongue in desperation. "So you want me to assist you on your way to your grave?" he asked, voice drenched in worry and sarcasm. "You _are_ gonna die, you know that, right?"

"Stop over exaggerating, Shin," Ichigo sighed and rolled his head to the sides. "If I ask neatly, will you tell me? Or do I have to ask somebody else?"

Shinji rubbed his eyes and mumbled something under his breath. "Where else would he be..." he finally said, giving up on trying to save his best friend. "Than on the roof?"

**xxxxxxxxxx**

When the bell signaled the beginning of lunch brake, Ichigo ignored Shinji's pleas and made his way for the roof. When he arrived at the door, he paused and glanced over his shoulder. Only a few other students were on this floor, and they all looked at him with wide eyes. Ichigo took a deep breath, tried to calm his nerves, and pushed the door open.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

AN; _Cliffhanger? I dunno..._

_Ci vediamo, mia tesorini!_


	6. Welcome

**Just a game?**

**Chapter six – Welcome**

AN; _Quick thanks to all of you who added my story to your favorites and took your time to leave a review. I love ya all!_

**xxxxxxxxxx**

An unwelcome shiver ran down Ichigo's spine as he was once again greeted by the menacing aura. The dark clouds in the sky only added to the dangerous atmosphere, and Ichigo couldn't help but feel slightly nauseous.

The group on the roof reacted the same way they had last time; they stopped their conversation and turned their heads to glare at him. As calmly as he could, Ichigo closed the door behind him and took a step forward, only to notice his legs suddenly seemed to weigh a ton each. He clenched his teeth together and forced his legs to start moving, feeling like a piece of meat being thrown into a den of lions.

When he passed the closest student in the group, he swore he could almost feel their glares slowly sliding over his skin. He suppressed the urge to flinch and kept walking until he was standing in their midst, looking down at the student who was laying spread out on the ground.

"I need to talk to you," he said, feeling his facade crumble a little when his gaze met the blue eyes. "Grimmjow."

Grimmjow slowly sat up straight and heaved himself to his feet. Once again, Ichigo registered how tall he was.

"'Bout what?" Grimmjow said slowly and stuck his hands down his pockets.

Ichigo's tongue immediately glued itself to the roof of his mouth and he looked around at the rest of the dead-silent students in an attempt to buy time. "Can..." he started, but the words stacked in his throat. "Can we speak in private?" he managed to breathe out.

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow at him and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. "Naw, I don't think that's necessary," he said, obviously aware of Ichigo's nervous state. "We're all family, and ya don't keep secrets from yer family, right?"

Ichigo scowled. _So this guy insisted on teasing him, huh? _He crossed his arms over his chest, feeling more confident than before. "Fine," he snapped. "Let them listen, I don't mind."

The shit-eating grin appeared on Grimmjow's lips and he tilted his head to the side. Ichigo lost track of his words for a second when he was dragged off the earth by those electrical blue eyes. Their intensity were out of this world, there was no way any human being could have eyes like these.

When he heard Grimmjow snort, he returned to earth with an unpleasant thud. He loudly cleared his throat and sucked in a deep breath, bracing himself. "You..." he said quietly, using all of his willpower not to run away and never look back. _Fuck, if he was wrong now, it would be the end. Shit, shit, shit, shit, just say it and get it over and done with, coward!_ "You're Panthera," he finally said, a little louder than intended. He had to bite his teeth together to avoid adding "Right?" or "Please say you're him!" to the sentence.

Like someone would've turned off the lights, Grimmjow's smile disappeared and his eyes narrowed. _Yup, I'm fucked. _Ichigo's mind screamed at him to run for his life, but his pride kept him rooted to the spot. Even when Grimmjow started moving closer, he held his ground. _Just make it quick and painless._

Grimmjow stopped when he was only a couple of inches away from him. From the corner of his eye, Ichigo could see him raise his hand, so he squeezed his eyes shut and prepared himself for the beating of his lifetime.

When a big hand slid into his hair, he couldn't help but let a small, shaky gasp escape from between his teeth. He opened his eyes and looked up at Grimmjow, who was once again showing that devilish grin.

"And here I thought ya weren't gonna figure it out, Ichigo," he said and chuckled at the shocked expression that ran over Ichigo's face.

Ichigo's eyes were the size of dinner plates as he stared at Grimmjow. _I was... wait, what?_ His brain insisted on taking a long time for the realization sink in. Grimmjow playfully ruffled his hair and strode past him. "So," he said to the rest of the students. "Looks like he won."

Ichigo turned around and looked at the crowd. Only now, he noticed Neliel was sitting on a bench next to a silver-haired student who looked very similar to the hybrid mage from a week ago.

"I told ya the strawberry would figure it out," a tall guy snorted. "Ya gave him a way too easy challenge, Grimmjow."

Ichigo bristled at the nickname and glared at the guy who'd so carelessly uttered it. The guy was skinny and alarmingly tall, he had black hair and a bandana tied around his head, covering his left eye. _That warrior... Nnoi?_

"Shut yer trap, Nnoitra," Grimmjow snarled, confirming Ichigo's assumptions. He turned back to Ichigo and pointed at Neliel, who sent Ichigo a dazzling smile. "Ya already know who this is," he said. "Nel, my baby sister."

Ichigo's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. _Sister!_ Before he could dwell on the fact, Grimmjow moved on to the silver-haired guy. "Gin Ichimaru, genius in both real life and in game. Ya should'a spotted him when we had our duel."

Ichigo nodded as he remembered the nasty feeling of being strangled by snakes. "Nnoitra Jiruga, sick sadist and hacker," Grimmjow went on and nodded in the tall guy's direction.

"Shut the fuck up, asshole," Nnoitra snapped and aimed a punch at the blue-haired man, but Grimmjow dodged it with ease. "The strawberry might get the wrong idea about me."

"My name is not strawberry," Ichigo growled before Grimmjow could respond. "I'll kick your skinny ass if you keep calling me that."

Nnoitra threw his head back and laughed, but he raised his hands over his head in surrender, so Ichigo turned back to Grimmjow, but before he could introduce the rest of the group, the door to the roof was slammed open, revealing a heavily breathing Shinji.

"Oh, shit," Ichigo mumbled, but before he could say another word, Shinji started approaching the group with a determined expression. When he was standing right in front of Grimmjow, he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back on his heels. He shot a quick glance at Ichigo and smiled. "Told you he'd figure you out, Grimm."

Ichigo's jaw dropped to the floor. _The fuck..? _Grimmjow looked back at him and let out a barking laughter at the sight of his expression. "Ya didn't know?" His feral grin danced over his lips again as he flicked his head in Shinji's direction. "Shin and I've known each other since we were 13, and he's been informing me of yer progress with the challenge."

Ichigo stared blankly from Grimmjow to Shinji. He'd been best friends with Shinji since they were eleven, but he'd never heard the blonde speaking of Grimmjow.

"And I'm also a part of Hollow, Ichi," Shinji said with an innocent smile.

"Hold the fuck up!" Ichigo exclaimed, not being able to take in all this new information. "_You_ play The World? But you always say it's a stupid-ass game!"

"It _is _a stupid-ass game," Shinji agreed and gave a short laugh. "But I never said I didn't play, did I?"

When no retort popped into his mind, Ichigo changed the subject. "So when you said you 'had your ways' of finding out how I was doing, you meant Shinji?" he asked Grimmjow, who nodded in response.

A thousand questions rolled into his mind, but one in particular itched to be answered. "You said you'd tell me why you challenged me if I found you," he said slowly and locked eyes with Grimmjow.

"I don't think I should say it in front of everybody else," Grimmjow said and took a step closer to Ichigo, who fought the urge to back away.

Feeling a little provocative, Ichigo let a cocky grin grace his lips. "We're all family, and you don't keep secrets from your family, right?" he said with a hint of sarcasm.

Grimmjow's eyes darkened a little, and his grin grew wider. "If that's the way ya wanna play it," he husked and grabbed Ichigo's shirt, leaning in closer until there was only a hairsbreadth of space between them. "Fine by me," he murmured before pressing his lips to Ichigo's.

Ichigo froze. _What the fucking fuck!_ He was being kissed by the insanely gorgeous Grimmjow Jaegerjaques! No no; He was being kissed by the insanely gorgeous Grimmjow Jaegerjaques in front of Shinji and the entire creepy group on the roof! His heart felt like it was going to leap right out of his chest, and when he felt Grimmjow's tongue trace his lower lip, he let escape a sharp gasp. Grimmjow took advantage of that and pushed into Ichigo's mouth, making sure to taste every corner of it. Ichigo's body lost some of its rigidness when he felt Grimmjow's thumb rubbing small circles into his hip. Momentarily forgetting his surroundings, Ichigo moaned quietly into the kiss and let his own tongue dance with Grimmjow's. _Good god, this man must've been made solely for this._

Grimmjow pulled back, still equipped with that damned grin, and Ichigo, feeling his face practically burning, had to take a few deep breaths to regain a little self-control. He had to calm himself before he'd melt into a pathetic puddle at the man's feet.

"That a good enough answer fer ya?" Grimmjow rumbled lowly, making the hair on Ichigo's arms stand up.

Ichigo quickly took a step back, avoiding Grimmjow's sinful eyes. He parted his lips to speak, but his tongue was sticking to the roof of his mouth, hindering him from producing even the slightest sound.

"I think ya infected his vocal cords, _Panthera_," Nnoitra cackled. Ichigo turned on the heel to give him a piece of his mind, but before he could act, Shinji stormed up to the tall guy and slapped the back of his head. "Play nice, Nnoi!" he scolded before bending over and giving the tall guy an upside down kiss.

This didn't help Ichigo's state of mind at all. He rubbed his eyes and inhaled deeply a few times. "S-so..." he started, without really knowing what to say. "What... what's gonna happen now?"

"Depends on what ya mean," Grimmjow mused. "If ya mean the World, yer invitation should appear once ya log in. If ya mean our... _situation_..." He slowly licked his lips and grinned lecherously. "Well, the ball's in yer court, so to say."

Ichigo shivered as he felt his heart do a back flip. _Fucking hell, this man is lethal!_ "Right..." he mumbled and looked around at the others. "How many of these guys play the World?" he asked, keen on changing the subject.

"They're all part of Hollow," Grimmjow said. "Ulquiorra, mage..." He pointed at a pale teenager with large, green eyes and black hair. "Starrk, hunter." A bored-looking guy with brown hair and lazy eyes nodded in Ichigo's direction. "Szayel, another warrior." A pink-haired student with glasses smiled at him. "Hiyori, warrior." Ichigo swallowed his question considering Hiyori's looks. Anyone who looked at her would assume she was maybe 12 or 13; she was short, she had her hair set up in pigtails, and she was wearing a red tracksuit. She snorted and scowled at Ichigo, who cocked an eyebrow in return.

"The fuck ya staring at, baldy?" she snapped and jumped to her feet. She barely reached up to Ichigo's chest, but she spoke in a very superior, bossy way.

"The fuck you calling bald, shorty?" Ichigo retorted and pulled his brows into a deep scowl.

"Good god, Ichi, don't anger the beast!" Shinji whispered dramatically. A split second later, Hiyori had dashed up to the blonde and hit him in the face with one of her slippers. "Ow, shit!" Shinji exclaimed and massaged his sore cheek. "'S not nice, Hiyori!" he whined and took a step away from her.

Ichigo couldn't help but laugh at the scene. Shinji was usually the one who did the beating, not the one who received it, and now he stood whining like a five-year old. "You look ridiculous, Shin," he said when the laughter subsided.

Shinji looked at him and grinned widely. "You're one to talk," he jingled. "Blushing like a virgin from one little kiss..."

"Sh-shut up," Ichigo mumbled, feeling his face heat up again. He heard Grimmjow chuckle and distracted himself by slapping the back of Shinji's head. The blonde started cackling like a hyena, and Ichigo felt a rising urge to wring the skinny asshole's neck. However, before he could act, the bell tolled, signaling the end of lunch break.

Grimmjow tilted his head to the side and grinned at Ichigo. "Biology, right?" he said and made way for the door.

Ichigo groaned. _I'm so dead..._ he thought as he followed the blue-haired Adonis.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

Biology class went agonizingly slowly, mostly because Ichigo could feel Grimmjow's eyes burning holes through the back of his head, non-stop. The constant staring left Ichigo with a burning blush that wouldn't fade. It also kept reminding him of their kiss. _Grimmjow's lips on his, his hand massaging his hip, his tongue slowly tracing his- _Ichigo rubbed his eyes and let out a shaky breath. _Stop it, asshole brain! _

He was determined to not glance back at Grimmjow, he didn't want to give the blue-haired bastard the satisfaction. Instead, he kept his eyes glued to the blackboard. That is, until Ishida, who was seated next to him, passed him a note.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at Ishida, but he only shrugged and flickered his head in Grimmjow's direction. Ichigo's gaze locked with Grimmjow's for a few seconds before he read the short note.

_Why ya blushing like that?_

Ichigo felt the heat spread to his ears and neck and he tried to glare at Grimmjow, but the sight of his thin eyebrows slightly raised over half-lidded, ocean blue eyes made the glare fade like a candle being blown out.

Ichigo grabbed his pencil and quickly scribbled down, _None of your business._, and made an irritated Ishida pass it back to Grimmjow.

He heard a soft chuckle, and that sound made the heat spread throughout his entire body, settling in the pit of his stomach. _God, why did the man have such an effect on him?_

When the note was passed back to him, he surprised himself with how his already burning blush could intensify so much. _Aww, and here I thought ya was thinking of our little moment at the roof, in which case it _would_ be my business..._

Ichigo fought the tempting urge to crumble the paper and toss it at its owner, but instead, he glanced at Yoruichi to make sure she didn't notice they were sending notes during class, and wrote a quick denial, _I was not, now stop bugging me!_, and sent it back to Grimmjow.

The reply came almost instantly, and Ichigo read it while ignoring Ishida's frowns and displeased snorts. _Feisty, huh? Come on, berry, we all know ya enjoyed it and can't wait to do it again... _Ichigo's patience was nearing its breaking point, mostly because what Grimmjow said was true. _Not that he would ever say it out loud_. He wanted to send a sour retort, but before he could even reach for his pencil, the note was yanked out of his hand by his teacher.

"Notes during the lesson, Ichigo?" Yoruichi chimed and giggled. "Aren't you a little mature for that?" The entire class was watching, and Ichigo sighed. "And you, Jaegerjaques," his teacher went on, turning to Grimmjow. "What should I do, what should I do... Isn't the punishment for these situations to have the note read out loud?"

Ichigo's eyes widened in horror and he stared at Yoruichi, who offered him a cheshire-cat grin. _Oh fuck, no..._ She quickly eyes through the note and her smile grew even wider. "On second thought, not even I'm _that_ cruel," she finally said and let the note flutter back down onto Ichigo's desk. "But I think I'll send the both of you outside, since you _clearly_ have so much to talk about."

Her tone hinted she knew exactly what was going on, and it didn't help Ichigo's state of mind. Reluctantly, he stood up and walked towards the door. He shivered slightly as he felt Grimmjow standing behind him, and he hurried out of the room, with the rest of the students' eyes on him.

"What the hell was that?" he snapped the second the door closed behind them.

Grimmjow equipped his trade-mark grin and took a few steps closer. "What do ya mean, Ichigo?" he asked innocently. "Yer the one who let Yoruichi get the note..."

"Why did you send it at all?" Ichigo interrupted and crossed his arms over his chest, observing every move the blue-haired man made.

"Ya were blushing so badly, I thought ya were gonna have a seizure," Grimmjow said slowly. By now, he stood only one feet away from Ichigo, who determinedly held his ground. "I'd like to see ya try to ignore someone who looks that delicious..." He placed his right hand on the wall behind Ichigo and leaned closer.

"Sh- shut up..." Ichigo replied weakly, feeling his resistance melt away. Grimmjow was standing so close, Ichigo could feel his breath fanning over his face. He wanted to just reach out and bring the man down for a kiss, but his body wasn't responding at the moment.

Grimmjow's grin grew wider as if he could hear what Ichigo was thinking. He let a deep chuckle roll through his teeth before closing the space between them for the second time.

Ichigo felt like his body was on fire. Searing heat pooled in his stomach as Grimmjow pried his lips open, and he carefully ran his hands up Grimmjow's arms, over his shoulders and into his surprisingly soft hair, completely forgetting they were standing in the middle of the hall.

Grimmjow placed his hands on Ichigo's hips and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. By now, Ichigo was starting to feel out of breath, so he pulled back just slightly and panted, "Wait.". He heard Grimmjow growl lowly, so he started rubbing small circles into his scalp to get his attention. "I want to know why you do this," Ichigo murmured, not looking away from those ocean blue eyes.

"Hmmh..." Grimmjow sighed and rested his forehead against Ichigo's. "Remember I said I've known Shin since we were 13? He never once mentioned ya until we entered Karakura University. Then I laid my eyes on ya, and started asking Shin about ya. He told me ya were his best friend, and little by little I became interested. Shin must've noticed my... _intentions_, because he stopped me, told me to back off fer a while."

"So, you're saying..." Ichigo breathed slowly, still staring into Grimmjow's eyes. "You've... _liked _me for the past year?" He felt Grimmjow's shoulders stiffen a bit. Surprised by this reaction, he took a deep breath and started rubbing his scalp again.

"Take it how ya want, as long as I can continue what I was doing," Grimmjow said and grinned, leaning just a little bit forward.

All Ichigo's questions died when he felt Grimmjow's muscles relax, and he couldn't help but chuckle. "Cocky bastard," he murmured against Grimmjow's lips, all unnecessary thoughts flying through the window.

"Confident," Grimmjow corrected, but before he could start assaulting Ichigo's lips again, a loud hyena-like laughter echoed through the hall. Ichigo groaned as he recognized the voice, and he turned around to scowl at the source.

"Nice timing, asshole," Grimmjow sighed and let go of Ichigo, who almost whimpered at the loss of contact. "What do ya want, Shin?"

Shinji just smirked and leisurely strolled up to them. "Oh, nothing, really," he said and winked at a seething Ichigo. "Heard you were thrown out of class as well, so I came to keep an eye on you horny kids."

While Grimmjow burst into laughter, Ichigo accidentally bit his tongue in his hurry to start cursing at the cackling blonde. He rubbed his crimson red face and sent Shinji a death glare, hoping he would run off with his tail between his legs.

Ichigo couldn't help but shiver when Grimmjow placed an arm around his shoulders. "Don't think I'll stop just because yer here." If Ichigo hadn't seen Grimmjow's lips move, he wouldn't have believed he had actually said that. _There should be an award for how much sexual tension one can withstand._

Shinji's laugh subsided and was replaced by a smug grin. "Kinky," he said. "I didn't know you were into public sex-"

"I swear to god, if you don't shut the _fuck_ up, I'll kill you, Shinji," Ichigo seethed in an attempt to blame his crimson blush on anger instead of embarrassment. Shinji fell silent, but his grin grew wider.

"Feisty, hm?" Grimmjow murmured right next to Ichigo's ear, making his breath hitch. He turned his face away and parted his lips to speak, but only a small "Ah!" made its way through when Grimmjow captured his earlobe between his teeth and bit down gently. Ichigo's body flinched as if he would've been electrocuted.

"Ya sure ya wanna stay and watch?" Grimmjow asked, turning his attention back to Shinji, who emitted a high-pitched giggle.

"I would, but I don't think I could stand watching Ichi get raped," he said and backed a few steps. "See ya later, online!" With those words, he disappeared around the corner.

A few moments' loaded silence, then Grimmjow released a short laugh. "Sorry, I just had to mess with him." He spoke directly into Ichigo's ear, the poor berry shivering at every syllable. "Don't worry, I'm not planning on harassing ya in public." He quickly pecked Ichigo on the cheek and released his hold on him. The sudden loss of contact extracted a very much audible whine from Ichigo, who immediately covered his mouth with his hands, hoping Grimmjow hadn't heard that.

The look on Grimmjow's face was enough proof that he _had_ heard him. He took a few steps closer, effectively pinning Ichigo against the wall. His eyes had darkened several tones, giving away the strong hint of lust hidden beneath that shit-eating grin. "Unless, of course, ya want me to," he husked.

Ichigo thought his legs would give in, but before he could even remove his hands from his face, the classroom door slid open, revealing a widely smiling Yoruichi. Her eyes traveled from Grimmjow, who was standing with his arms on the wall behind Ichigo, to Ichigo, who was standing with his hands covering a furious blush. "Hope I'm not interrupting," she said and placed her hands on her hips. "But I think you've had more than enough time to finish your little... talk."

Ichigo lowered his hands and stormed past a chuckling Grimmjow. He stomped into the room, ignoring the looks and whispers from his classmates. Throwing himself down in his chair, he folded his arms over his chest and spent the rest of the lesson staring out the window.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

The exam in history was finally over, and Ichigo had already started erasing all the notes and memorized lines from his head. He was on his way home right now. Grimmjow had told him to log into the World as soon as he got home, so his 'welcoming ceremony' could begin. Truthfully, Ichigo was a little nervous. Joining Hollow was an ordeal for anyone who played the World. The guild was small, only consisting of twenty players or so. Their achievements were legendary, and their members practically unbeatable.

Practically.

Ichigo was glad to find the house empty. Not even bothering to take off his shoes, he quickly scaled the stairs and dashed into his room. The door slammed behind him, but he didn't even notice. When he sat down by his desk, he switched the computer on and started removing his shoes and jacket while waiting for the screen to load.

While the biggest part of him wanted to log in just to get the invitation, another part couldn't wait until he got to play together with Grimmjow. He knew he was already falling for the blue-haired beast, but he didn't mind it in the least. On the contrary, the new euphoric sensation that overwhelmed his body every time they were close was extremely satisfying.

He immediately logged in and pressed the emulator over his head. As the game was launching, he could almost hear his heartbeat in his ears. The corners of his mouth involuntarily curled upwards as Las Noches finally appeared on the screen. He immediately noticed a small icon of a letter in the right corner. It included a short message.

"_Come to the arena."_

Ichigo swallowed thickly before setting off. The streets were unusually empty. He dashed past the shops and buildings. For every step he took, his heart seemed to beat faster. _Like a kid in a candy shop._ He snorted just as the arena came into his vision. He slowed down and equipped a serious, hopefully dignified, expression. First impressions could be crucial here.

When he reached the entrance, an earsplitting roar greeted him. His body tensed, but he kept on walking until he stepped out onto the sand. He couldn't help but chuckle nervously as he saw all the players from the dark side was seated on the bleachers. They cheered and whistled, making thumb-up signs at Ichigo.

But his attention was pulled to the other side of the arena. There, by the wall in front of him, stood every single member of Hollow. Ichigo's eyes were first stolen by Grimmjow's. He was no longer wearing his mask, so Ichigo could see he was wearing his usual grin. Next to him stood Shinji. Ichigo's eyes widened as he realized Shinji was a lion hybrid. His blond hair was longer and infinitely messier, running down his back and stopping at his waist. Judging from the ornate staff in his hands, he figured he was a mage.

Then he turned his gaze to the middle of the group. His eyes grew into the size of baseballs when he saw black wings emerge from a brown-haired man's back. _A fallen angel._ The man was floating a few feet above the ground, and when he turned around, Ichigo recognized his face from the online articles of Hollow's activities. _Aizen, leader of Hollow._

"You are Ichigo, am I correct?" Aizen asked and floated a little closer.

Ichigo nodded, speechless. Aizen radiated such a strong aura of confidence, it made Ichigo believe all the rumors about him, even the ones one could assume were fake.

"From what I've heard, you have defeated Grimmjow in a fair duel. That alone serves as quite a feat."

When he didn't mention the challenge, Ichigo quickly glanced at Grimmjow, only to see he was pressing a finger to his lips. _Oh, I get it. Bastard._ "Yeah," he said and turned back to Aizen.

"After hearing of your actions, it would honor me greatly if you would accept the invitation to Hollow as rank seven."

Ichigo nodded again. "The honor would be mine," he said, inwardly grinning at how archaic this event was.

Aizen nodded with a satisfied smile and raised his right hand. He started chanting in some foreign language, and the words made small, white lights appear around Ichigo. If he hadn't seen videos of this before, he probably would've panicked. He knew this was Hollow's way of welcoming a new member; the light would cover his body for a few moments, and when they disappeared, they'd leave two tattoos on his body. One with Hollow's logo, one with the rank.

When the lights faded from his body, Ichigo twisted his right arm to see the logo of Hollow printed on his underarm. His gaze travelled down his front, and he found the number 7 located on his abdomen, close to his belly button.

He wanted to dance with joy, but before he could even take a step forward, he was almost tackled to the ground by his fellow guild members. Like someone had turned on his ears, he suddenly became aware of the cheering from the crowds, as well as the fact that all the members of Hollow were busy crushing his lungs by hugging him or pulling his right arm out of its socket by an overenthusiastic handshake. Shinji almost knocked him to the ground when he jumped up on his back and ruffled his hair.

Finally, he managed to break free from the circle, and he stumbled straight into Grimmjow's chest. Feeling dizzy and light-headed, he grinned widely at the blue-haired hybrid. "'We're all family', right?" he said and turned around to look at the rowdy group that was made of the most skilled dark side players in the World. "Oh yeah," he added before Grimmjow could respond. "Was the challenge part of me joining Hollow, or was it just something for your own personal satisfaction?"

"Would ya be mad either way?" Grimmjow said and closed his arms around Ichigo.

True enough, at this point, Ichigo didn't care. The situation was perfect.

"Alright, quiet down, all of you," Aizen raised his voice over the crowd. Immediately, the whole arena became dead-silent. "Now that we have our final member, it's time to start preparing for the tournament."

Ichigo's eyes widened. "Tournament?" he asked slowly. "As in the-"

"The Annual Guild Tournament, yes," Shinji finished for him, laughing at his shocked expression. "You were the final member we needed for the group that enters every year."

**xxxxxxxxxx**

AN; _Gah, my inspiration is slowly falling down to hit rock bottom..._

_When I wrote this the first time, it became so similar to the end of a story, I had to redo it. And now..? Mehh, it's really crummy and stuff... I apologize for the crappy writing, yes I do. See ya next week!_

_Ci vediamo, mia tesorini!_


	7. Preparations

**Just a game?**

**Chapter seven – preparations**

**I'm gonna go ahead and warn ya, this chapter is rated 'M'. It's most likely not even necessary, but ya know, just for sure. Wouldn't want FF to start erasing my stuff or anything~**

**xxxxxxxxxx**

Ichigo listened, stunned, to Aizen's ramble about preparations for the tournament. _The biggest fucking event in the World, where only the best players participated._ And Ichigo was meant to join. He couldn't believe it.

"The group that participates in the tournament will consist of me, Starrk, Hallibel, Shinji, Gin, Nnoitra, Grimmjow, Ichigo, Szayel and Nel. I want all of you to search the game for any updates on your current gear and weapons, as well as enhance all of your attributes as much as possible. I will assemble all of you twice a week to run through the Underground Laboratory and Flame Forest."

Ichigo silently observed the player called Hallibel. She had to be the most beautiful woman Ichigo had ever seen. On a scale from one to ten, she was somewhere in the twenties. She had blonde hair and dark skin, eyes apple green. She wore a jacket with long sleeves and a high collar that hid her lower face, but other than that, it was very revealing. Like Nel, she was a shaman. Her body was even more impressive than Nel's, and Ichigo knew that if he'd been straight, he wouldn't be able to stay in his pants.

"Our most fearsome enemy guilds are the Quincy and the Shinigami. The Quincy focus on ranged classes, mostly using archers. They also have clerics for healing, as well as one or two mages. Their leader is a Nymph archer, and he can use magic."

Some of the other members had slightly bored expressions, like they'd heard this countless of times before. Ichigo realized it was mostly for him Aizen was repeating this now.

"The Shinigami are the opposite, focusing on close combat. Mostly warriors and brawlers, a few clerics and maybe one mage. Their leader is a werewolf, so he is not to be engaged in one-on-one."

This sounded like a briefing for war. Even though Ichigo loved playing the World, he'd never taken it this seriously. But Aizen made it sound like they were fighting for survival. Like this tournament would be a ticket to heaven.

"And so..." Aizen turned his attention to Ichigo, who snapped out of his daze. "You have yet to achieve the final stage of hollowfication, am I correct?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said and opened his journal. "I recently got the final quest, so I haven't really gotten started yet."

"That's fine," Aizen said and smiled. "The tournament takes place a month from now, so you'll have plenty of time to gather what you need."

Ichigo couldn't help but scoff in disbelief. "You mean I have to run through ten dungeons a day for thirty days?" he said.

"Don't complain, Ichi," Shinji piped up and crossed his arms. "We have no tests coming up in a while, and you'll just play a little more than usual. And you have to get to know the guild properly."

Ichigo shot him a fiery glance, but before he could speak, Aizen raised his voice. "You may assemble your own team to assist you," he said. "Even for the lower level dungeons, I suggest you go with a full group, seeing as it will go faster that way."

A smirk graced his lips as he knew exactly who to bring along. "Alright," he said gravely and gave his guild mates an evaluative gaze. "I'll take Shinji, Nel, the stick with the axe and..." He smiled softly as his eyes locked with the panther hybrid's. "Grimmjow."

Shinji broke into massive complaints about having to spend so much time on the computer, while Nnoitra seethed at what he just had been called. Nel just smiled sweetly, and Grimmjow equipped his usual, shit-eating grin.

"Excellent," Aizen said and adapted a businesslike expression. "I hope you will lend your full strength to help Ichigo prepare properly."

All four of them nodded. Satisfied, Aizen spread his wings and took off, heading for the open desert. "Well, then," Grimmjow said as the rest of the members dispersed, heading for their own occupations. "I say we head fer La Garganta straight away."

Ichigo nodded. "If we start with Arrancar Castle, run through it on both normal and hard mode, then we come back to Hueco Mundo and do the same with Menos Forest and Desert Middle."

"Fantastic," Shinji and Nnoitra said in unison, both with the same sarcastic voice.

"Don't complain," Nel chimed. "You said so yourself, Shinji."

Shinji shrugged and muttered something soundlessly. Ignoring him, Ichigo clapped his hands together and smirked. "Shall we get going?"

**xxxxxxxxxx**

Completing Arrancar Castle on normal mode was practically just running through the dungeon. They one-hit KO'd every enemy, and killing the bosses took about twenty seconds. Ichigo watched in awe as the other four moved in perfect sync, attacking and switching positions as if they would be dancing.

The shards Ichigo was supposed to collect looked like small crystals, however their inside seemed to be brimming with a volatile black sphere. They melted away into thin air the second Ichigo's fingertip touched one, but according to the quest in his journal, this was supposed to happen. He was 'absorbing power for the final stage of hollowfication'.

When they'd finished the first round, Ichigo switched to hard mode. The change was enormous. It required a more strategical approach. Nnoitra took the damage while Ichigo and Grimmjow dealt as much damage as they could. Shinji blasted enemies away with bolts of blue fire, and Nel healed the team.

The final boss in Arrancar Castle, Barragan, had a lot of abilities that could be lethal to the group if they were not careful.

"Alright, we start normal, just beat the crap out of him and when he uses Arrogante and transforms into the skull with a cape, all direct combat will deal damage to us, so me and Ichigo will stop attacking," Grimmjow suggested when they were discussing the easiest way to complete this quickly. "Nnoitra will keep his distance, taunting Barragan to keep chasing him while Shinji blasts him into next week with his fire. At the end, he uses Respira. All of us gather around Nel so she can heal us through the damage it deals. Then we start all over until he's dead. Sound good?"

Ichigo nodded, feeling excited and giddy. He knew the tactics from before, but back then there had been no teamwork whatsoever. _This_ was gaming on a whole new level.

It took them seven minutes of downstraight _beautiful_ gaming to bring Barragan down. No mistakes had been made and each had a damage per second that climbed above 20,000. Which was insanely high. The event had landed Ichigo on a cloud of euphoria. He was grinning like an idiot, and his hands were trembling with adrenaline.

He still couldn't get over the fact that Shinji, who always complained or teased him for playing the game, actually played the World himself. Not to mention, he was rank three in Hollow. For Ichigo, it was like watching another person, when the usually stuck-up diva was preforming a series of impressive magic and speaking in game terms that even Ichigo had a hard time understanding.

His eyes landed on Grimmjow, and he sighed. Even though Ichigo was seeing everything through the emulator, he still couldn't help but undress Grimmjow with his eyes every time he wasn't in his panther form. The well-defined abs and grooves revealed by the open jacket was almost too much for his mind. _Torture,_ he through. _Pure, cruel torture._

A warm grin graced his lips and he averted his glance from the blue-haired beast to avoid getting caught staring.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

When they finished the last dungeon, Ichigo groaned when he noticed four hours had past since he'd gotten home. His shoulders were stiff, he could feel a slight shade of a headache, and he could hear his family moving around downstairs.

"Well, if we're done, I'm out," Shinji said and wagged back and forth on his feet. "I've gotta try to restore the hours I've wasted here."

"Ah, get that stick outta yer ass." Ichigo flinched as Grimmjow's voice came from straight next to his ear. He glanced over his shoulder and shivered unintentionally. Grimmjow was standing right behind him. So close, if it would've been real life, Ichigo could've smelled the mix of aftershave, cigarettes and Grimmjow's own scent.

Shinji offered Ichigo a toothy grin before turning around and setting off towards Las Noches.

"I'm headin' with the lion," Nnoitra said and rubbed his neck. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure," Ichigo said. Nnoitra nodded and sprinted after Shinji.

Shortly after that, Nel announced she had to log out to make it to soccer practice in time. When she disappeared, Ichigo became very aware of the fact that he was now alone with Grimmjow. In this situation, he would've given anything to make the emulators generate the feeling of skin contact.

"Are ya free tonight?" Grimmjow wondered.

"Sure, why?" Ichigo said, feeling heat rushing to his cheeks.

"The new Espada movie is rolling in thirty minutes, wanna go watch it?"

"Are you asking me on a _date_?" Ichigo said coyly and smirked at the blue-haired hybrid.

The grin that was returned was feral, on the verge of dangerous. "Maybe I am," Grimmjow said slowly, the vibrations of his voice making Ichigo squirm. _Jesus, his voice alone was sexy as sin._ "Give me yer address and I'll pick ya up in ten minutes."

Ichigo nodded breathlessly and wrote his address on the screen to make sure Grimmjow would remember it. Then he logged off and quickly changed into his favorite grey jeans and a simple white t-shirt. He slid his feet into his shoes and grabbed his jacket.

Once downstairs, his family seemed shocked to see he was home. "Yeah, I was... sleeping," he said and shrugged. "Was so tired when I got home I went straight to bed. Anyways, dad, I'm going to the movies with a friend, I'll be home late tonight."

"What about dinner?" Yuzu asked absentmindedly, her eyes focused on the frying pan in front of her. They both ignored the tantrum their father was throwing at the moment, whining about his son not wanting to spend any time with him, or how 'his little Ichigo was growing into an independent man'. Karin seemed more than willing to shut the man up, but she inhaled deeply and smiled in Ichigo's direction.

"Don't worry, we'll probably eat after the movie." When he heard the sound of an engine outside their house, he said goodbye to the trio and walked towards the door. The sight that greeted him outside made him freeze in the middle of a step.

Grimmjow was waiting for him, leaning against a motorcycle. The black, blue and white vehicle was shining in the sunset, and Grimmjow's hair was swaying in the soft evening breeze. He was wearing a leather jacket over a form-fitting sleeveless t-shirt, ripped black jeans and white sneakers. His body practically screamed confidence and perfection, two things that turned Ichigo's mind into mush.

Ichigo didn't realize he'd been staring before Grimmjow pushed away from the motorcycle and walked up to him, his trademark grin in place. "If ya don't stop staring, we'll miss the movie, Ichi," he murmured.

_Ichi! _Whatever Ichigo had wanted to reply, the words died in his throat when Grimmjow gently grabbed his right hand and brushed his lips over the knuckles. Heat spread to Ichigo's cheeks and nether regions, and he was could've sworn steam was rising from his skin.

Without waiting for a response, Grimmjow led Ichigo to the bike. "Ever rode one of these before?" Ichigo shook his head no, his mind still in the clouds. He returned to earth with a loud thud when Grimmjow pressed a black helmet into his arms. "Put it on and sit behind me." He felt like a kid when he clumsily took his seat behind Grimmjow. The helmet was a little too big, gliding down over his eyes every time he moved his head too much.

His body stiffened when his hand was grabbed and directed around Grimmjow's abdomen. "Put yer arms around me..." His palm landed on a set of rock-hard abs, and when he applied slight pressure to the muscle, he thought he heard a content sigh coming from the blue-haired man.

The roaring of the engine made Ichigo flinch and tighten his hold. Under his hands, he felt Grimmjow's muscles quivering, and he frowned when he realized the man was chuckling. Before he could complain though, Grimmjow released the brakes.

Ichigo couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this exhilarated. They were thundering down the street, the surroundings just a messy blur in Ichigo's eyes. He laughed nervously. It felt like his stomach had vanished and his lungs had shrunk to half their size, and he loved it.

When Grimmjow did a sharp turn, Ichigo sucked in a deep breath and leaned into the curve. Once again, he felt Grimmjow's stomach vibrate from laughter, but this time all he could do was laugh along. _This was so. Fucking. Cool._

The helmet had slid down over his eyes again, and he let go with one hand to adjust it just as they turned. It resulted in Ichigo, shocked and terrified he would fall off, pressing his body flat against Grimmjow's back and squeezing his eyes shut.

Some of the tension eased, and Ichigo inhaled deeply. The scent of oil, leather and Grimmjow's own scent filled his nostrils and he hummed in content. He wouldn't change his position for anything, even if someone offered him the entire world on a plate.

It took them about five minutes all together to get to the movie theatre. Ichigo was glad there had been no cops on the way, seeing as they'd been driving about double the speed limit. "So how'd ya like that?" Grimmjow asked when Ichigo removed the helmet.

"_That_ was the coolest thing I've ever done," he said and grinned.

Grimmjow leaned forward and rested their foreheads together. "The coolest thing yer ever done _so far,_" he murmured before chastely pecking his lips.

Ichigo shivered at the suggestive sentence and sighed. _Lethal, lethal, lethal as a fucking murderer..._

He reached into his back pocket for his wallet, but Grimmjow swatted it away. "I'm paying." Ichigo frowned, and opened his mouth to argue, but the blue-haired man interrupted him. "We're on a date, Ichi, and I was the one to ask, so I'm the one who pays."

Ichigo sighed at the logic, but let Grimmjow have his way. "Two tickets fer Espada."

"Yes, sir, that'll be... Ichigo?"

He flinched and whirled around to stare at the cashier, who turned out to be none other than Rangiku Matsumoto, a third-year from their school. Ichigo had gotten to know her through a course they had taken together. He found her quite annoying, and she had insisted on sitting next to him throughout the course.

"H-hey, Rangiku," he said and forced a smile. She was the last person on earth he wanted to see right now.

"You... you're Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, aren't you?" Rangiku asked of Grimmjow, who stared at her with slightly narrowed eyes.

"That's me," he said slowly. "Ichi, who's this chick?"

"Ah, we took the same course together a few months back," Ichigo said, sensing a dangerous undertone in Grimmjow's voice. "Grimmjow, Rangiku. Rangiku, Grimmjow."

"Pleased to meet you," Rangiku said with a flirtatious smile. Ichigo mentally face-palmed. _Oh god, __why..._

"Nn," was Grimmjow's response.

"What brings you two here?"

Ichigo sighed again, feeling frustration rise through his body. "Obviously, we're here to-"

"We're on a date."

Like someone would've set fire to his insides, Ichigo felt his face heat up. He glared at Grimmjow, who calmly returned his gaze, smile set on his lips.

For a second, Rangiku looked as if struck by lightning. Then she offered Ichigo a cheshire-cat grin. "Oh my, is that so?" she chimed, eyes dancing mischievously. "That's nice. Well then, let's seat you in the back to give you guys some privacy."

Ichigo was amazed he hadn't melted into a little puddle yet. If he checked his temperature, he was sure he would have a strong enough fever to make an ambulance drive him to the hospital with sirens howling.

"That sounds mighty fine," Grimmjow said, his grin in danger of eating his face. He seemed to have taken a liking to Rangiku's way of thinking, much to Ichigo's annoyance.

True enough, when they entered the theatre, they found Rangiku had kept her word on the "privacy" part; they were alone on the two last rows, the darkness of the room hiding them completely from onlookers. Ichigo let himself drop into his seat, too embarrassed to look at Grimmjow._ Damn that Rangiku to hell and back._

The previews appeared on the screen, and some of Ichigo's nervousness was washed away. He'd wanted to see this movie since it was released, and wasn't going to let that busty bimbo ruin it for him. He peeked at Grimmjow from the corner of his eye, and he couldn't help but inhale deeply. The man was leaning back in his seat, a lazy smirk on his lips. The cerulean eyes were hooded, and he looked like he'd just woken up.

_Oh god..._ Ichigo quickly averted his gaze. Every time he looked at Grimmjow his stomach did a back flip and heat spread through his body, settling in his groin.

The lights went out and the movie started rolling. _Perfect timing._ Espada had been Ichigo's favorite series of movies since the first had been released about nine years ago. Action movies with impressive special effects and a good plot. _Sweet_.

About thirty minutes into the movie, Ichigo had completely forgotten his nervousness. He was focused on the wide screen, where someone was currently running down a mountain, chased by hundreds of monster-like creatures. Then he felt a hand slid into his hair, and the nervousness returned with full strength.

His body froze to the point he felt he couldn't have moved his body even if he'd wanted to. Grimmjow was rubbing small circles into the skin right behind his ear, and he had to tuck his lower lip between his teeth not to let escape any sounds.

Grimmjow's fingers left his ear and slowly, _oh so slowly_, slid down the side of his neck and settled on the exact point where his shoulder began. They pressed down, hard enough to extract a hiss from the poor berry. Ichigo was surprised Grimmjow hadn't burned his fingers. In fact, he was surprised the entire seat hadn't caught on fire.

"I-I though you weren't gonna harass me in public," he mumbled. Even without Grimmjow's low chuckle, he knew his voice had lacked conviction, that it had sounded more like an urge to continue.

"So I said," Grimmjow husked right into Ichigo's ear. "But then ya made that cute little sound, and I figured this was _exactly_ what ya wanted."

A soft sigh escaped Ichigo's lips as he tried his best to focus on anything except the fingers that was doing wonders to his shoulders. Grimmjow, however, seemed to have different plans for him.

"Come on, Ichi, give in to yer desire," he mumbled slowly, his voice laced with temptation and lust.

The sensation of fingers pressing into his sore muscle along with those sinful words made Ichigo's body shudder almost violently. He tore his eyes away from the movie screen and looked up at Grimmjow, who returned his stare with almost gleaming eyes.

_Fuck this._

He soundlessly hoisted himself higher in his seat to sit face to face with Grimmjow. Carefully, as if approaching a sleeping tiger, Ichigo leaned closer. He stopped when there was only a hairsbreadth of space between their lips. He inhaled deeply and his eyes fluttered close. Grimmjow's scent tickled his nostrils and clouded his mind, made his brain go fuzzy.

Ichigo didn't realize he'd been still for almost an entire minute before Grimmjow slid his free hand under his thigh and dragged him onto his lap. A small yelp of surprise escaped Ichigo's lips, and he quickly glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone had heard him.

A mountain of protests welled up into his mind, but when he looked down at Grimmjow from his position, he forgot every single one of them. His body heated up and he leaned a bit closer. "So much for the movie," he murmured and pressed his lips to Grimmjow's.

For Ichigo, it was the first time he'd ever initiated a kiss. He tentatively opened his mouth and let his tongue sneak between Grimmjow's lips. He was instantly allowed access, and he shivered when Grimmjow's hands slid down from his shoulders and settled on his hips, forcing their bodies closer.

The kiss quickly turned sloppy, all tongue and teeth. Ichigo's fingers entangled in blue locks, and he tugged gently to angle Grimmjow's head better. The soft groan that escaped Grimmjow's lips brought Ichigo into a whole new realm of arousal. His hands left Grimmjow's hair and fisted the front of his shirt, desperately trying to get closer than physically possible.

A sudden explosion echoed throughout the room, making a shocked Ichigo break the kiss and twist his body around to search for the sound. It took him a while to realize they were still in the movie theatre, and the explosion had come from the screen.

He turned back just in time to see the slightly neglected expression on Grimmjow's face. He parted his lips and was about to say something soothing, but was cut off when the hands on his hips tightened their grip and Grimmjow's hips bucked into his.

Unprepared and with his mouth open, Ichigo let escape a very much audible moan. He quickly slammed his teeth together and turned around, terrified, to see if someone had heard him. Luckily, the lingering sound effects from the explosion had drowned his voice.

He turned back to Grimmjow, who seemed very pleased with himself. "_What_... are you doing?" Ichigo hissed through his teeth. He wasn't really sure what he wanted to hear, if he even wanted to hear anything at all.

Grimmjow didn't say anything. He just quirked an eyebrow and rolled his hips again, this time causing a steady friction between their clothed arousals. Ichigo's breath hitched and he leaned forward, burying his face in the crook of Grimmjow's neck.

"Oh my, oh my _god_," he chanted quietly, his hands still clutching to the hem of Grimmjow's shirt.

"Don't make too much noise, Ichigo."

_How can I not!_ Ichigo was sucking in deep breaths through his nose, afraid that if he parted his lips, he'd let escape some very unmanly sounds. He kept inhaling the intoxicating scent of the blue-haired beast, a scent that effectively turned his brains into mush.

Grimmjow's hands had left his hips and found their way under his shirt. His touch ghosted over Ichigo's sides, slowly traced the lines of his abs, moved up to circle a pink nipple, occasionally grazing the stiffened pebble, all the while Ichigo tried his best to stay in control over his own body.

_Fine_, he thought. _If you can do it, so can I._ He lifted his head a few inches and let his breath fan over Grimmjow's neck. The nervousness grew stronger, mostly because he didn't want to humiliate himself. He had never done anything like this before, so he was quite unaware of _how_ to do anything like this.

He swallowed thickly and bit back a throaty moan. Grimmjow was still working his skin, completely oblivious to the inner battle Ichigo was dealing with. His grip on Grimmjow's shirt tightened, and he lowered his lips to the skin in front of him.

The action extracted a soft snarl from between Grimmjow's teeth. The aphrodisiac sound was enough to encourage Ichigo. He placed soft kisses along Grimmjow's neck, all the way up to the skin right under his ear before dragging his tongue down to his collarbone, where he gently bit into the skin.

"Ichigo..."

Ichigo tilted his head enough to get a good look at Grimmjow's face. His eyes were smoldering and hooded in bliss, a lazy smirk on his lips. _Oh, my._ Without breaking eye-contact, Ichigo gave the spot he'd just bitten a slow, languid lick.

"_Fuck_..."

"What are the two of you doing!"

Every single cell in Ichigo's body froze. They'd been caught. Red handed. _Mother fucker, this isn't happening... _Grimmjow's smirk disappeared like someone would've turned off the lights. He withdrew his hands from underneath Ichigo's shirt and placed them on his shoulders instead, gently pushing him back. The look on his face was dangerous when he turned to glare at the source of the voice.

"What the fuck do ya want, asshole?" Grimmjow growled, loudly enough for the entire theatre to hear. Ichigo was surprised the man who'd interrupted them didn't run or at least back away, because Grimmjow sounded like he could kill.

"I want you two to step outside," the man snapped and pointed at the exit. "Now."

Ichigo quickly jumped up from Grimmjow's lap. When he glanced to the side, he saw almost everyone had their eyes on him. "Fucking hell..." he muttered and reluctantly stomped toward the man. He felt Grimmjow's presence behind him, but he couldn't bring himself to look at him.

The man made a gesture like he was about to grab his arm, but one glare from Grimmjow clearly was enough to make him reconsider. Instead, he held the door open for them, glaring as they passed.

Ichigo immediately noticed Rangiku was still sitting in the cashier's booth. _Oh no, no, no, no, fucking no..._

"What's wrong, Ganju?" she asked of their escort and leaned forward on her desk. Her eyes went wide when she spotted Ichigo, who was trying to fight a furious blush.

"These two were getting it on in the last row," Ganju said and pushed Ichigo towards her booth.

Rangiku looked like christmas had arrived a few months in advance. "Really?" she asked and stared at Ichigo with dancing eyes. "What exactly do you mean by 'getting it on'?"

"I mean, the redhead was sitting in that brute's lap and they were-"

"She gets the point, thank you very much!" Ichigo seethed, annoyance overpowering his embarrassment. "And he's not a brute," he added and nodded in Grimmjow's direction.

"I think the term is 'beast', Ganju," Rangiku piped up and winked at Grimmjow.

"You're not helping," Ichigo snapped.

"Easy there, Ichi," Grimmjow said soothingly. He stood next to Ichigo and cast a looming shadow over Ganju, who seemed to cower a little. "Let's just hear what this fucker's got to say and get out of here."

"You should watch your mouth," Ganju said and crossed his arms. "But I also think you should get out of here. Permanently."

"Really?" Ichigo sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You're seriously banning us?"

"Ganju, I really don't think that's necessary..."

"Yeah, I'm banning you." Ganju pointed at the exit. "There's the door."

Grimmjow looked like he wanted to argue, but Ichigo grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the doors. "See you at school, Ichigo!" He groaned and kept his eyes at the exit, not wanting to see either Rangiku's overjoyed and curious expression nor Ganju's smug one.

Well outside, he released his hold on Grimmjow. He tilted his head towards the dark sky and inhaled the cool air. "Prick," he said and sighed.

"Sorry."

Surprised, Ichigo looked at Grimmjow over his shoulder. "Not you, Grimmjow," he said and smiled. "That Ganju guy."

"I'm still sorry," Grimmjow said, his face serious for a change. Ichigo's smile grew wider and he turned around so they stood face to face.

"I'm not," he chuckled and seized Grimmjow's lips with his own. The kiss was short, but when they parted, Ichigo's cheeks were dusted a light pink. He turned back around and started making his way towards the motorcycle. "I think it was worth it."

There was a moment of silence, then Grimmjow chuckled. "Oh really," he said and trotted after Ichigo. "Why don't ya try saying that to my face?"

"Why? You heard me just fine."

They got to the bike, but before Ichigo could reach for the helmet, Grimmjow placed both of his hands on the seat, trapping Ichigo in the middle. He was still standing with his back towards Grimmjow. "Ya know yer ears are red, Ichi," he murmured.

"Sh-shut up," Ichigo said breathlessly and freed himself from the prison of Grimmjow's arms. He quickly grabbed the helmet and forced it down over his head. "Care to take me home?"

Grimmjow raised a perfect eyebrow and grinned. "Alright," he said and swung his leg over the motorcycle. When he was seated, Ichigo climbed up after him. He adjusted himself to a comfortable position and locked his arms around Grimmjow.

"Stupid," he mumbled when the engine started roaring.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

When they pulled up in front of Ichigo's house ten minutes later, Ichigo had had more than enough time to review the event at the theatre. His body was overheated, he had been blushing constantly ever since they'd left the movies, ever since Grimmjow had broken down his wall of defense with just a few enticing words. He was actually surprised he hadn't had a nosebleed yet.

He hopped down from the bike and pulled off the helmet. He handed it over to Grimmjow without making eye-contact. "Today was... fun," he said. He could feel Grimmjow's eyes burning holes in the side of his head but he turned on the heel and was about to walk up to his door when Grimmjow grabbed his hand.

"What, no goodnight kiss?" he said with a voice that was supposed to be hurtful, but the amusement shone through with ease.

Ichigo groaned and slowly turned back. "You'd suck as an actor," he grumbled and leaned closer to meet Grimmjow's lips halfway.

A hand slid into his hair and pulled him closer. He hadn't even bothered closing his lips, knowing Grimmjow wouldn't settle for a chaste peck this time. A shiver traveled down his spine when he felt Grimmjow's tongue pushing into his mouth.

Ichigo stood still, letting Grimmjow take complete control over the kiss. Sweet bliss clouded his senses, and to him, the entire world vanished the second their lips touched.

The sound of shattering glass made him groan in frustration. _It's always something._ He raised his hands to stroke Grimmjow's jaw while he looked around. His jaw dropped to the ground when he spotted his father, who was staring at him through the living room window, his mouth forming a perfect 'o'. He was soon joined by Karin, who burst out in laughter and gave Ichigo the thumbs up, and Yuzu, who blushed furiously and hid her face in her hands.

"You might want to get out of here," Ichigo said. "Trust me, you don't want to be here when the old man starts bawling."

"Ya sure?" Grimmjow started the engine but didn't move.

Ichigo could hear Karin's shouts and Isshin's cries, and quickly brushed his lips over Grimmjow's. "Go," he mumbled and pushed the helmet over his head.

He turned around and walked up to the door. The sound of the bike had just disappeared around the corner when he heard footsteps approaching the door. _One ticket to hell, please._

**xxxxxxxxxx**

AN; _Okay. I was really unsure of how I was gonna write the scene in the movie theatre, since I've never written about this... stuff... before, so I went and interrupted it. I think it's the fourth time I've interrupted them in this story. Oops. Oh, I had so much fun with the last two pages! Poor Ichi... Worry not, Ichigo and Grimmjow will have their... "fun" in not too long~_

_Oh, and I'm focusing on Grimmjow and Ichigo for a few chapters now, but don't worry! The tournament is gonna start soon enough!_

_Ci vediamo, mia tesorini!_


	8. Rumor

**Just a game?**

**Chapter eight – rumor**

**xxxxxxxxxx**

It was the second time in a few days Ichigo's brain hosted a killer headache. He was currently on his way to school. His first lesson would take place in two hours, but he couldn't stand being interrogated by Isshin any longer.

Of course, his dad knew he was gay, but he still seemed to take the news about Ichigo dating pretty badly. It didn't have anything to do with the fact that he was seeing a guy, but simply the fact that he was seeing anyone at all. But maybe that was to be expected, considering his father's personality. To him, everything that showed Ichigo was growing up was the end of the world.

Ichigo sat down in the school cafeteria and rested his head in his hands. The building was empty, and it gave him a perfect opportunity to look back at the scene that had occurred about ten hours earlier.

_The second he opened the door, he braced himself. His reflexes made him press himself flat to the wall, and thank god for that, because not moments later, his dad came flying through the air, missing him with only a few inches._

"_What the hell, dad!" he growled and watched as his old man landed, face first, on the porch._

"_Ichigo, my son!" His dad sat up with his knees on the floor, and with tears practically streaming down his face. "My Ichigo is all grown up! He doesn't need his papa anymore..."_

"_Shut up, goat face!"_

_Ichigo looked over his shoulder and noticed Karin was leaning against the doorway. She was grinning widely at her brother. "Who is he?" she asked._

"_His name is Grimmjow," Ichigo said and walked past her into the kitchen. Yuzu was sitting at the dinner table, still blushing._

"_How long have you been dating?"_

"_A few days."_

"_How did you meet?"_

"_Geez, Karin, save some questions for the old man," Ichigo sighed and took his seat next to Yuzu._

"_He looked scary," she said quietly, looking at anything in the room except her brother._

"_I know," Ichigo said and ruffled her hair. "But that's only the outside, he's a real teddy bear once you get to know him."_

_Sorta._

_His dad entered the kitchen and sat down on the other side of the table. He inhaled deeply and looked at him with a serious expression._

"_How long have you known this Grimmjow?"_

_Correct answer; two days._

"_We've been in the same school since we were thirteen," Ichigo said. It was a lie, but in this situation, he figured the truth would not do his father any good. "He's one of Shinji's close friends."_

"_How do you know him?"_

"_We go to the same university."_

"_Have you had sex?"_

"_Have we- no, dad, what the hell?" Ichigo rolled his eyes and glared at his father. His expression was mirrored on Karin's face. It was clear she was trying her best not to wrestle Isshin to the ground._

"_Do you love him?"_

_Ichigo's shoulders stiffened at the question. "I don't- I mean, I like him a lot, but we've dated a few days, I can't..." he mumbled, his face heating up._

"_No way," Karin said and tilted her head. "Ichi-nii, are you _blushing_?"_

_Before Ichigo could even glare at her, Isshin leaped up from the table and threw himself at the picture of his wife. "Masakiiii, our Ichigo is all grown up! He's gonna marry his handsome boyfriend and leave this house and never come see his papa again, what are we going to dooo!"_

"_Shut up, old man," Ichigo shouted and rose from his chair. "Are we done here?"_

"_I think you can go," Karin said and cracked her fists. "I'm gonna teach him some manners."_

Since then, Isshin had tried to corner him with sudden questions about his and Grimmjow's relationship. Finally, Ichigo had snapped and elbowed him in the face, sending him tumbling down the hallway. Before he could recover, Ichigo had stormed out of the house.

The silence in the building did wonders for his headache. He'd taken two painkillers, and they finally seemed to kick in. He let his eyes flutter close and sighed. How was he supposed to face Grimmjow after yesterday's scene in the movie theatre? Every time Ichigo remembered what exactly had happened, his cheeks flooded with color and he was in danger of crushing whatever he had in his hands.

He leaned over the table and let his mind go blank. Maybe he could get a few minutes of sleep before the building would fill up with chattering people.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

Ichigo had slept for almost forty five minutes when the sound of voices woke him from his slumber. He sat up and arched his back. The headache was gone, and he felt oddly refreshed. His next lesson would start in five minutes, so he grabbed his bag and started walking towards the classroom.

Ichigo had always considered chemistry as a hobby inside of school. It was easy, and he loved experimenting. Today, they would continue on a project they'd been working on last week. Ichigo took his seat next to his lab partner, Rukia Kuchiki, and eyed through their notes so far.

When he glanced in Rukia's direction, he noticed she was staring at him. "What?" he asked and put down the notes.

Rukia flinched and quickly averted her gaze. "No, it was nothing," she said quietly.

Ichigo kept looking at her for a few more seconds before shaking his head and turning back to the notes. _Weird._ They grabbed their tools and started working on a formula they were supposed to create.

After twenty minutes, Ichigo was just about to write down one of the middle stages of the process when he happened to gaze over at Renji, who was working together with Shuuhei. They sat with their heads together, completely ignoring their project to discuss something important. Both of them kept sending glancing at Ichigo every few seconds, and every time their eyes met, they quickly looked away.

_What the hell?_ Ichigo frowned. "Hey, Rukia," he said. It was obvious she had been staring at him again, because she jumped and dropped the stack of papers she was holding. Ichigo sighed and bent over to help her pick them up. "Is there something on my face?" he wondered.

"Why would you ask that?" Rukia said without looking at him.

"Because people, including you, keep staring at me."

"Oh." She kept her eyes steadily on the floor. "I'm just a little tired, so I keep spacing out. I don't know why anyone else stares."

"Right," Ichigo said, not convinced.

They kept working, but Ichigo was having a hard time focusing. Whenever he looked up from his papers, he found someone had been staring. _Seriously, what the fuck is going on!_

When the lesson ended twenty minutes later, he was starting to get freaked out. He quickly left the classroom and tried to blend with the stream of students. It didn't take him long to realize it was impossible; every single student kept casting not so subtle gazes at him, whispering to each other while pointing at him. They all stepped aside when he came walking.

Ichigo stopped and looked around at the rest. Most of them quickly looked away, but a few kept staring unabashedly.

A sudden thought hit him. _Oh no._ He resumed walking. _Oh no, no, no._ He sped up and headed for the third floor. _You had better hope I don't find you..._

He spotted his target sitting in the middle of a group at the end of the corridor and slowed down. He inhaled deeply and kept his voice calm when he spoke.

"Rangiku," he said and looked down at her. He ignored the rest of the people who kept staring at him like they'd never seen a human before. "I need to talk to you."

It was like someone had written the word 'busted' over her forehead. She swallowed, stood up and gave him an innocent smile. "How can I help you, Ichigo?" she said and winked.

"Cut that shit out," Ichigo snapped, his voice trembling. "Did you tell _anyone_ about... about what happened last night?"

The corner of her mouth twitched upwards and she raised her eyebrows. "Of course not," she said and pursed her lips. "I told _everyone_."

Ichigo's hand clenched into fists. _Never hit a woman, never hit a woman..._ "So now every single person in this school knows me and Grimmjow are-"

"Sleeping together, yes."

"_What!_" Ichigo's voice rose into a shout. "You told them we're _sleeping together!_" She nodded, wide smile on her lips. "Fucking hell, Rangiku..."

He fisted his hair and tugged sharply. _Gotta find Grimmjow._ "You..." He struggled to find his words, but when nothing came to mind, he turned his back to Rangiku and sprinted down the hall.

The entrance to the roof was located on the other side of the building, so Ichigo had to pass countless of staring student before he even got close. When he arrived at the staircase that led to the roof, a hand fisted his shirt and he was tugged backwards.

"I-chi-go!"

"Oh, for the love of god..."

Ichigo whirled around and released the grip on his shirt. He stared down at an almost hyperventilating Shinji. The blonde was staring at him with what he interpreted as pride and misplaced admiration.

"Shinji, before you speak, you should-"

"I can't believe you did it already!" Shinji hollered, much to Ichigo's horror. "And in a _movie theatre?_ I so didn't expect that, but I'm so proud of you-"

Ichigo quickly muffled his voice by covering his mouth with his hand. "Would you _please_ shut up, Shin?" He was quiet for a few seconds, trying to figure out the best way to explain this. "We didn't _do it_, that's just Rangiku's version, okay?"

Shinji nodded and freed his face from Ichigo's hands. "I don't believe you, Ichi," he jingled and jumped out of reach. "Your face is red, and I know you were on a date last night, so stop denying it."

"I'm not saying _nothing_ happened, but we did. Not. Sleep together!" Ichigo seethed.

"Ooh, then what happened?"

"None of your damn business!"

Shinji pursed his lips and frowned at Ichigo. "Stingy," he sighed. His eyes traveled to the door to the roof. "I wouldn't go there if I were you," he said. "I know you wanna talk to him, but remember who he's surrounded by."

Ichigo crossed his arms. "What do you mean?"

"They will eat you alive, Ichi," Shinji chimed and punched his shoulder. "Heads up on Nnoitra, he's a real ass, and Nel becomes _really_ clingy when someone is close to her brother. Hiyori will become even more vicious, Gin will start coming 'too close for comfort', and Ulquiorra will stare at you 24/7."

"I just need to talk to Grimmjow, that's all," Ichigo said and steered his steps towards the door. "I'm sure they'll back off."

"This I cannot wait to see," Shinji mumbled and trotted after Ichigo.

The second the door opened, a cheer erupted from the far side of the roof. Startled, Ichigo nearly jumped into Shinji's arms, but he settled for giving the door handle a quick squeeze before walking over the the rowdy bunch.

He spotted Grimmjow and sighed when he realized the man had made no attempt whatsoever to correct the rumors. In fact, he seemed extremely satisfied with the situation. His grin was already in danger of eating his face, but at the sight of Ichigo, it grew even wider.

When Ichigo was close enough, he immediately noticed some of the things Shinji had said were true. Ulquiorra's green eyes were resting on him, never wavering. Nel was standing next to Grimmjow, tugging lightly on his sleeve in an attempt to get his attention.

That Nnoitra was an ass was no news to Ichigo. Even from a mile away, he'd be able to spot the mocking intention the stick had. He wouldn't fall for Nnoitra's provocations.

"Alright," Ichigo said loudly. "Before I start, I'd like _everybody_ to keep their mouths shut. Especially you, Jiruga," he added coldly when he saw Nnoitra open his mouth.

"Che, the berry's no fun," he mumbled and shrugged, toothy grin set on his lips.

Shinji skipped right past Ichigo and sat down next to Nnoitra. He equipped the same toothy smirk and looked at Ichigo with high expectation.

"What's the problem, Ichi?" Grimmjow asked, snapping Ichigo back to reality.

"The _problem_ is the rumor going around this school," Ichigo said. He tried to sound stern, but it wasn't easy when he had his eyes on Grimmjow's body at the same time. "It's false, and so it should not exist."

Grimmjow took his time before answering. "I really don't see what's the big deal."

"How can you be so calm about this?" Ichigo sighed and scratched his neck. "Doesn't it bother you at all that something like this-"

"It's most likely gonna be true soon enough, so..."

And just like that, with a few simple words, Ichigo's arguments died and were replaced by images of some _extremely_ inappropriate activities. He didn't need Shinji's or Nnoitra's hyena-like laughters to know he was sporting a deep red blush.

"I don't... I mean, I..." Ichigo stuttered helplessly, his brain going short circuit and his heart beating at a pace almost dangerous.

"Mah, Grimm, don't tease him too much." The voice came from right behind Ichigo, but before he could turn around, Gin placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned against him. "Don't want to scare him off, hm?"

Ichigo stared down at him for a few moments before glancing in Shinji's direction. A clear "I told you so" look was returned from the blonde, and it did nothing to calm him down.

"Unhand him, Gin," Grimmjow said, his voice a little rougher than usual. Gin only chuckled and trotted back to his seat. "So." Grimmjow focused his attention on Ichigo again. "Was there any problem you needed to talk about?"

Ichigo felt like melting through the roof, whatever to get away from this scene. The heat in his body almost made him faint. When Grimmjow didn't get his answer, he stepped closer to Ichigo and placed a hand on his forehead. "Ya okay?" he murmured.

Feeling his knees start to give in, Ichigo quickly grabbed the hem of Grimmjow's shirt to stop from falling. Of course, this type of action was completely misinterpreted, and it earned him a very deep, very_ loud_ kiss from Grimmjow.

The laughter that was heard when they parted could probably have been heard all the way down to the lively street five floors down. Ichigo buried his face in the crook of Grimmjow's neck to hide his blush. He felt Grimmjow's chest quiver from suppressed laughter, but when a hand slid into his hair, he couldn't help but sigh in content.

"Don't mind them," Grimmjow mumbled, so quietly only Ichigo could hear him. "They're all assholes, and they know it."

"Counting you in, I assume?" Ichigo snorted and leaned into the hand that was massaging his scalp.

"Oi," Grimmjow said with pretended hurt. "I'm not an asshole."

Ichigo pinched the soft skin on Grimmjow's shoulder. "I already told you, you suck as an actor."

**xxxxxxxxxx**

Nearly one week had passed since the rumor about Ichigo and Grimmjow's relationship had started, and by now, Ichigo had learnt how to deal with it. When he was near the blue beast in public, he let Grimmjow do almost whatever he wanted to him, and laughed at the appalled faces of his classmates.

So far, however, the rumors remained false. Ever since Grimmjow's comment on the roof, Ichigo had been extremely paranoid, just waiting for him to suddenly rip off all his clothes and do some _very_ sinful things to him, but so far, Grimmjow hadn't made a move. Frankly, Ichigo wondered why not. Sure, he had been paranoid, but he'd gotten over it many days ago. Now, he felt more impatient than anything else.

Their work in the World was running smoothly. Perfectly according to schedule, Ichigo had collected a little more than a quarter of what he needed to complete the hollowfication. He'd also gotten to know everybody in the guild better; they had gone out for drinks together, or they would just crash someone's apartment and hang for a couple of hours.

Ichigo was currently seated by his computer, having just finished the last dungeon for the day. He stretched out in his chair and glanced out the window. A heavy downpour had tortured Karakura for two whole days now, and although Ichigo enjoyed spending time on the computer, this was not how he wanted to spend his saturday.

A soft knock on his door made him spin his chair around to face the door. He was surprised when it was Isshin who entered; usually, his father would just break down the door instead of knocking.

"What's up?" he asked and leaned back in his chair.

"Your sisters and I are going on a road trip to Tokyo," Isshin said and leaned against the doorway. "You wouldn't be interested in coming along, would you?"

Ichigo's eyes widened. _An empty house, all to himself..._ He cleared his throat and focused his eyes on the wall next to his dad. "Not really," he said in a tone he hoped was nonchalant. "I have lots of schoolwork, so..."

Isshin stared down at him for a moment before switching back to 'loving father' mode. "Oh nooo, my Ichigo doesn't want to spend time with his family!" he cried and lunged himself at an unprepared Ichigo. Isshin landed painfully in his lap, and the chair toppled over.

"Fuck!" Ichigo growled as his head hit the floor. "What the hell, old man!"

"My Ichigo is all grown up, he wants to spend time with his handsome boyfriend instead of his papa, what do I do!"

The line had Ichigo fuming like a volcano. He planted his palm in his father's face and pushed him off of him. "I just said, I have schoolwork to deal with, idiot," he said in an attempt to keep his voice steady. "This has nothing to do with Grimmjow-"

"Remember to use protection, my dear son!" Isshin sang and danced out of the room before Ichigo could throttle him.

Ichigo raised his hands and tugged at his hair. "Oh god, why..." he hissed through gritted teeth.

He sat still on the floor for a couple of minutes, listening to the muffled sound of Isshin's cries and Karin's protests. He had just calmed down when the computer emitted a little ringing noise. He slowly hoisted himself to his feet and checked the screen. He didn't realize he had left his game on, not to mention he had left his chat with Grimmjow open.

Ichigo quickly secured his father wasn't eavesdropping and adjusted his emulator.

"Sorry about that, stupid old man got all sentimental on me," he said.

"Why?"

"Oh, nothing, he's going on a road trip with my sisters and asked if I wanted to come along. I said no."

"So yer gonna be alone in that house fer a few days?"

Ichigo felt his ears go red. "Yeah," he said breathlessly. "Just... just me."

"Oh," he said slowly. "'S that so." It didn't take an expert to tell exactly what was moving through Grimmjow's mind right this second. His voice had dropped to a low, husky tone, a sound that sent icing shivers down Ichigo's spine. "Well, Ichi, go see yer family off, we can talk more later."

"Sure."

Ichigo logged out and hurried downstairs. The first thing he spotted was a seething Karin, who was carrying a huge bag in her arms. "You're so lucky you don't have to come," she greeted him. "Hours in the same car with that stupid goat face. I'd rather jump out of the window."

"Be nice," Ichigo chuckled and followed her to the door. "He's just trying to spend some time with you."

"Easy for you to say, you don't have to come along," Karin snapped, though Ichigo could see she wasn't really that angry. "It's probably because of you_ boyfriend_, and he doesn't wanna take away your time with your _boyfriend_, soon he will be inviting your _boyfriend_ over for dinner..."

"Stop saying boyfriend like that, it sound weird," Ichigo said and ruffled her hair. "At least you'll have Yuzu as company."

"I suppose," Karin sighed.

Ichigo didn't walk her further than to the front door, since the rain was still pouring. Isshin was already seated in the car, but at the sight of Ichigo, he pressed his nose against the window and cried something inaudible. Ichigo sighed and hugged Yuzu, who just passed him on her way to the car.

"There's food in the fridge, big brother," she said when he released her. "There should be enough for a couple of days, and I left a recipe book in the kitchen, so you can try to make something yourself when the rest is eaten..."

"Yuzu, are you implying I can't take care of myself?" Ichigo said soothingly and patted her on the head.

She offered him a sweet smile and ran to the car. His sisters waved at him from the car when it started moving, and he stood in the doorway until it had disappeared around the corner. With a content sigh, he backed into the apartment and closed the door.

Ichigo walked into the kitchen and popped the refrigerator open. He couldn't help but chuckle when he saw it was stuffed with boxes in all kinds of colors, each with a small note on top, every note saying something like _"Remember to eat properly, big brother!"_.

He closed the fridge and steered his steps for the staircase, but before he could even take his first step, the doorbell went off. He groaned in dismay and dragged his feet to the door.

"What, forgot your keys or..."

The rest of his words died in his throat when he found himself staring at a completely drenched Grimmjow. His t-shirt was plastered to his skin, not doing anything to hide the lines and grooves of his body, and his soaked pants hung dangerously low on his hips. It was amazing how his hair could still stand up straight when it contained an amount of water comparable to that of a big puddle.

"Hey, Ichi," he said and grinned at his expression.

Ichigo snapped out of his daze. "What the hell are you doing, you're gonna get sick!" he almost shouted. He grabbed hold of Grimmjow's shirt and pulled him into the hall. "Wait here," he said and dashed up the stairs to find a towel and some dry clothes.

He rummaged through his closet for a pair of loose sweats and his biggest shirt. After that he quickly grabbed a white fluffy towel from the bathroom and sprinted downstairs again, only to have his heart ripped right out of his chest.

Grimmjow was in the process of removing his soaked shirt. Little protection had it provided; small drops of water was running down his chest, traveling over his abs and disappearing out of sight once they reached the hem of his jeans. The dimmed light of the hallway seemed to reflect from Grimmjow's skin, and Ichigo had to clench and unclench his thighs repeatedly to calm down his very much awakened member.

Before he was caught staring, he walked up to Grimmjow and handed him the dry clothes. "I think these should fit," he said with a forced calm tone. "Leave your wet clothes here before you come inside."

Grimmjow nodded in response and a few drops of water fell from his hair to the floor. He started undoing his pants and Ichigo quickly whirled around and almost ran into the living room. He threw himself down on the couch and exhaled shakily._ Holy fuck, it should be illegal to look like that!_ He let his eyes flutter close, but the image of Grimmjow without a shirt seemed to be burned into his eyelids.

He opened his eyes again when he heard Grimmjow enter the room. He looked almost disgustingly good in the little too tight sleeveless shirt and loose pants. Ichigo swallowed thickly and tore his eyes away from him. "Come sit in front of me," he said, hoping to sound normal.

Grimmjow complied and took his seat on the floor in front of Ichigo. They sat face to face, and Ichigo quickly pushed the towel over Grimmjow's head to avoid being turned into jelly by those dark eyes.

He started drying Grimmjow's hair, rubbing small circles into his scalp. There was complete silence between them, only broken by the distant sound of rain, and every time Grimmjow made a sound of pleasure, Ichigo squirmed in his seat. _It's not fair._ He wondered if Grimmjow even knew exactly how attractive he really was.

A question popped into his mind and he cleared his throat. "Can I ask you something?" he mumbled.

"Mm?"

Ichigo shivered at the sound, but focused his thoughts on a question he'd been wanting to ask for a while now.

"Why did you wait a full year before approaching me?"

Grimmjow didn't show him his face, but Ichigo could still tell his expression had darkened. "I thought ya knew," he said. "Shin said it was kinda obvious."

"Yeah, well, you know how Shinji is, what's obvious to him is impossible to figure out for others..."

"The same year we entered the university..." Ichigo got the feeling this was something Grimmjow did not want to talk about, and he was just about to say that when Grimmjow finished his sentence.

"That was the year yer mom died, right?"

**xxxxxxxxxx**

AN;_ Okay, I know I'm leaving this at a very sucky place, but if I keep going now, this chappie will be a loooot longer, and I try to keep it around 4/5k words per chapter, but I promise ya lots of lovin' in the next chapter, which will totally be rated M..._

_So, hope ya can wait until next week!_

_Ci vediamo, mia tesorini!_


	9. Ready

**Just a game?**

**Chapter nine – ready**

**Warning! _This chapter is rated M (mature)! Yaoi, smut, all that nice stuff..._**

AN; _Oh, and FF keeps deleting my "?"s, like, if I wanna put a "?" after a "!", it deletes the "?". Geh. It annoys me..._

**xxxxxxxxxx**

Ichigo's shoulders stiffened and he halted the slow drying of Grimmjow's hair. _His mother's death..._ He'd been so caught up with school, and a certain blue-haired beast, he hadn't even thought about it.

"How..." He heard his voice as if it was coming out of a different person. He cleared his throat, but it only served to clog it even further.

His mother, Masaki's death had occurred almost precisely one year ago. It had happened a couple of months after Ichigo had entered Karakura University. She had just dropped off Ichigo's forgotten lunch at the university, and then drove off to go visit Isshin in the clinic.

She never made it that far. Some other driver, who'd been speaking on the phone, had apparently been too busy to pay attention to the traffic lights, and ended up driving straight into Masaki's car, right into her side.

There had been nothing the doctors could do to save her. They had explained something about massive internal bleeding, but Ichigo had been too busy trying to comfort his sisters while being in a state of shock, to pay the nurse any attention.

"I'm sorry, Ichi, I shouldn't have brought it up," Grimmjow said and raised his head enough to look at him from underneath the towel.

Ichigo winced at his tone and forced himself to calm down. "No, I mean..." he mumbled quietly. "I wanted to know, right?"

When he didn't get a response, he sighed and resumed the drying. "Besides, it's no use for me to get depressed about it anymore," he said. His mood surprised himself. Usually, he would do just that and get really depressed, but now it didn't pain him as much as it usually would. "Don't worry about it, Grimm, I'm fine, really."

The corners of Grimmjow's mouth twitched slightly, and he lowered his head again to hide the small smirk that was dancing on his lips.

"What's so funny?" Ichigo asked and stopped his rubbing once again, a small frown appearing on his face.

"So it's 'Grimm' now, huh?"

Ichigo's eyes widened and he felt his face heat up. He hadn't even noticed the slip. "Y-you call me Ichi, so..." he stuttered, trying and failing to save what little dignity there was left in him.

Grimmjow only chuckled in response, but that was more than enough to make Ichigo forget all painful memories. He swallowed thickly. "But Shinji got you to back off for a full_ year_?" he asked, keen on changing the subject.

"Yeah, well, ya know how Shin is, being the influential bastard that he is," Grimmjow said. "He said he'd send me flying if I tried anything during that time."

Ichigo sighed. "I can imagine that," he said with a soft chuckle. "But still, a _year_..."

"What, ya wish I would've made ya all jumpy and nervous sooner?" Grimmjow chortled and grinned at him from underneath the towel.

"Sh-shut up," Ichigo snapped, feeling his face burning. "I'm not jumpy!"

"Nervous?"

Ichigo exhaled shakily. "No..." he murmured. His eyes locked with Grimmjow's, and before he could say anything else, Grimmjow placed his hands on the couch, hoisting himself up to his knees. This way they were on the same height, and Grimmjow wasted no time in pressing their lips together.

Letting the towel drop to the floor, Ichigo moved his hands to fist the hem of Grimmjow's shirt. The kiss was chaste, innocent, so different than any other they had shared before. They remained like that for almost a whole minute before Grimmjow pulled back just slightly.

"I want ya, Ichi," he murmured against Ichigo's lips.

Ichigo's breath hitched and he shuddered. He knew he was sporting a nice, deep red blush, but he was surprised at how calmly he reacted. After swallowing thickly, he drew forth enough courage to quickly brush his lips over Grimmjow's and whisper, "Then take me."

The change in Grimmjow's behavior was instant. After offering Ichigo a lecherous smirk, he crushed their lips together with enough force to bruise. Ichigo brought his hands up to his hair and let Grimmjow take full control over the kiss.

Grimmjow pried his lips open at the same time as he pushed Ichigo down on the couch. His hands ran up Ichigo's sides, and Ichigo raised his arms to allow Grimmjow to rid him of his shirt.

Once his chest was bare, Grimmjow lowered his head and attached his lips to Ichigo's neck. He sucked on his soft skin before letting his tongue leave a trail down his chest, and Ichigo couldn't help but hiss as Grimmjow's tongue swirled around his nipple, before sucking it into his mouth.

Ichigo had to really focus to not arch his back from the delicious heat that spread from his chest and coiled in the pit of his stomach. Even though he tried, he couldn't keep the small moans and whines from erupting from his throat. He was almost painfully hard, but he would never be able to live through the embarrassment of coming before Grimmjow had even touched him properly.

When he felt Grimmjow starting to tug at his belt, Ichigo hoisted himself up on his elbows. "Wait," he breathed out, shivering under the smoldering glare Grimmjow sent him. "Bedroom," he said simply and sat up. "'S more comfortable."

Grimmjow groaned, but complied. His hands never left Ichigo's upper body, and it made it incredibly hard for Ichigo to walk, constantly fighting the bucking of his knees.

Well past the staircase, Ichigo turned around to face Grimmjow and attached their lips. He walked backwards, slowly and without ever breaking contact. He blindly reached behind him and managed to push the door to his room open.

Once inside, Grimmjow wasted no time in pushing Ichigo down on the bed. Ichigo watched with rising heat as Grimmjow rid himself of his shirt, tossing it to the side. He crawled over Ichigo, looking like a panther, waiting to ravage his prey.

All too suddenly, Grimmjow pushed his knee against Ichigo's clothed arousal, causing an unbelievably delicious friction. Ichigo's lips parted in pleasure and he heard himself moaning loudly.

"_Holy shit_..."

"Are ya always this easily aroused, Ichi?" Grimmjow husked as he started loosening Ichigo's belt.

"Th-that depends on who's touching me, dammit," Ichigo panted weakly. His insides were on fire, and he was sure his brain had overheated long ago.

When his belt came off, Ichigo lifted his hips to let Grimmjow slide his jeans over his ass. When they dropped to the floor with a soft 'thud', Ichigo became very aware of the fact that the only thing keeping Grimmjow from seeing his erection was a pair of thin black boxers. He threw an arm over his face in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

That didn't suit Grimmjow at all. He halted the undressing and moved his arms to uncover Ichigo's face. "I wanna see ya properly," he said and quickly pecked him on the lips.

Ichigo squirmed at the words, but his body became rigid when Grimmjow slowly, _oh so slowly_, started removing his boxers. The process seemed to take an eternity, and when they finally were removed, Ichigo shivered as the cold air hit his swollen length.

Grimmjow leaned back a little, visibly enjoying the sight of Ichigo's naked form. "Delicious," he said and licked his lips. His eyes cut like razors over Ichigo's body, and it left Ichigo feeling very self conscious.

"Would you stop staring and just..." Ichigo quickly bit his teeth together, mortified at what he'd been about to say. Grimmjow grinned lecherously and leaned over him at the same time as he loosely locked his fingers around Ichigo's member.

"'And just...' what?" he rumbled against Ichigo's ear before licking a wet trail along the shell.

All that made it past Ichigo's lips was a strangled moan. Grimmjow chuckled darkly and his fingers shifted, ghosting up to the head and rubbing a thumb over the slit.

"Oh - oh my_ god_..." Ichigo breathed out. His back arched off the bed and he buried his fingers into Grimmjow's shoulders.

"C'mon, Ichi, tell me what ya want." Grimmjow's slow strokes mixed with that sinful voice ringing in his ear made Ichigo's breathing erratic. He subconsciously thrust his hips to meet Grimmjow's hand, and the action made every nerve in his body tingle.

"_Fuck_," he hissed through clenched teeth. He realized, only a second too late, that it was the wrong thing to say in this situation. Before he could start objecting to what Grimmjow had interpreted, the hand around his length tightened and the pace increased dangerously.

"All in good time," Grimmjow growled, making Ichigo's toes curl._ Sweet merciful god, this had to be illegal._

It didn't take many strokes before the fire in Ichigo's stomach became too much to handle. The grip on Grimmjow's shoulders tightened, and apart from a loud, wanton moan, he gave no warning as he came, coating Grimmjow's hand and his chest.

His hands slid down from Grimmjow's shoulders, but he somehow managed to hoist himself up on his elbows in time to see Grimmjow straighten his back and run his tongue over his fingers, making sure to gather every last drop of Ichigo's essence.

Ichigo parted his lips to comment on this obscene action, but the words died in his throat when Grimmjow pushed off the bed and started removing his clothes. Instead, Ichigo watched, entranced, as the blue-haired beast slowly loosened his pants and let them drop to the floor, giving Ichigo more than enough time to register exactly how well-built, not to mention hard, he really was.

"Lube?" he said and kicked his pants to the side.

Swallowing thickly, Ichigo nodded and rolled over onto his side and opening the top drawer in his nightstand. He retrieved the small bottle of opaque liquid and handed it to Grimmjow.

"Good," Grimmjow husked. "Now, get on yer knees."

The command went straight to Ichigo's groin, and he complied without hesitation. A wave of nervousness washed over him as he felt the bed sink under Grimmjow's weight, and he fisted the sheets in a poor attempt to distract himself.

He heard the cap of the bottle crack open, and for a second he wondered if Grimmjow was gonna take him without any preparation, but those thought were blown away when he felt Grimmjow spreading his cheeks and easing his tongue inside the clenched hole.

"G-Grimmjow!" he almost screamed as Grimmjow continued to thrust his tongue inside of Ichigo, coaxing him into relaxing his muscles.

His tongue was quickly replaced by a well-lubricated finger, and Ichigo bit into his pillow at the immense rush of pleasure that came when Grimmjow's finger curled inside of him. Grimmjow repeated the process two more times before adding another finger, driving them knuckle-deep into Ichigo and scissoring them.

"Grimmj-_ah_!" Ichigo's sentence was cut short when Grimmjow's fingers brushed over a sensitive bundle of nerves, sending Ichigo high over cloud nine.

Grimmjow smirked and added a third finger, repeatedly stabbing Ichigo's prostate. Ichigo's back arched and he moaned, loudly enough for his neighbors to hear. "Fuck, stop that and get it on already!" he snapped, his behavior shocking even himself.

He heard Grimmjow chuckle. "Feisty," he growled and pulled his fingers out of Ichigo, who groaned at the loss of contact. Ichigo heard him open the bottle of lube again, and he screwed his eyes shut when he felt a blunt heat pressing against his prepared hole.

Grimmjow's hands settled in a vice grip on Ichigo's hips and he started pushing forward. Pain laced with sweet pleasure shot up Ichigo's spine, extracting a strangled moan from the depths of his throat.

Grimmjow didn't stop until he was fully seated. "So fuckin' tight," he growled. He leaned down over Ichigo's back and placed small butterfly kisses along his spine. "Ya gotta relax, Ichigo."

"Easy – nngh! - easy for you to say!" Ichigo snapped weakly, but tried his best to relax his thighs. He sucked in a few deep breaths through his nose before tentatively rolling his hips and groaning, "Move."

Grimmjow bared his teeth against Ichigo's back and retreated, pulling out just to the tip before pushing back in, locating Ichigo's sweet spot with ease.

"Agh!" The most unmanliest of sounds were flowing past Ichigo's lips as Grimmjow picked up the pace, almost blinding Ichigo with every thrust. Small stars danced before his eyes as Grimmjow repeatedly slammed into him until he was as deep as physically possible.

The room was filled with the sound of both of them groaning, the sound of skin meeting skin, and the loud creaking of the bed. Ichigo felt like he was being broken in half in the most pleasurable way possible, and it didn't help when Grimmjow reached around him and started stroking him again.

"Grimmjow, I c – _ah!_ - I can't-" Ichigo started, but every sharp thrust and stroke interrupted his train of thought. All too soon, he felt the end coming closer with haste. "I'm, I'm gonna-"

"C'mon then, Ichigo." Grimmjow leaned over him and sunk his teeth into his shoulder. The intoxicating pain sent Ichigo over the edge, and he came for the second time, his mouth open in a silent scream and his body trembling violently.

Grimmjow growled as Ichigo's muscles clamped down around him, and after only three more thrusts, he spilled his seed deep inside of Ichigo. He rode out his orgasm by rolling his hips a few more times before easing out of Ichigo and slumping down next to him.

They were silent for over a minute, both of them breathing heavily, before Ichigo turned around and snuggled into Grimmjow's chest. Grimmjow smirked and pulled the blanket over them both.

"You know, I take back what I said before," Ichigo mumbled, sleep already tugging at his mind.

"How so?"

"_That_ was the coolest thing I've ever done."

Grimmjow chuckled and kissed his forehead. "I take that as a compliment."

**xxxxxxxxxx**

Ichigo woke up early the next morning, feeling warm and sweaty. He stretched out in his bed, and it took his drowsy brain a few seconds to realize he wasn't alone. His back was curled up against Grimmjow's chest, a strong arm thrown around his shoulders, and their legs were tangled together.

As carefully as he could, Ichigo sneaked out of his hold and swung his feet over the bed. He grumbled when he looked at the clock, noticing it was only 6 AM. With a sigh, he hoisted himself up from the bed, only to have his legs give in.

He barely managed to break the fall with his hands, but the painful throbbing that kept irritating his ass made him bury his face into the carpet. His face heated up alarmingly quick when memories from last night was played like a movie in front of his eyes.

_Grimmjow and I..._

Ichigo's face was in danger of hemorrhaging when he realized why he felt so sweaty. He slowly reached behind himself and brushed his hand over his back. _Yeah, sticky. Oh dear god._ He quickly got to his feet, clenched his teeth at the dull pain that protested to every step he took, and walked into the bathroom.

Well in the shower, a smile started tugging at the corner of his lips. The swelling in his chest made him feel like his heart had expanded to double it's regular size, and he had to suppress an urge to dance around in joy. He leaned against the wall, smiling up at the roof while the hot water soothed every muscle in his body. "Fuck yeah," he mumbled and rubbed a handful of water in his face.

Ichigo turned the water off, tied a towel around his waist and walked back into his room. He couldn't help but chuckle when he noticed his absence in bed had made Grimmjow latch onto the pillow, snuggling into what should've been Ichigo's shoulder.

He admired the extremely cute image for a few minutes before slipping into a pair of black sweats and a blue hoodie. Still grinning like a fool, he quietly left the room and closed the door behind him. He felt like going for a walk.

After putting on his deep red sandals, Ichigo stepped out on the porch and inhaled deeply, feeling his lungs expand with the cool morning air. He had only taken a few steps when he came up with an idea. He fished his cellphone from his pocket and quickly dialed Shinji's number.

It beeped seven times before he got a response, but it wasn't Shinji. "Who the _fuck_ is callin' at six in the fuckin' mornin'?"

Ichigo's eyes widened and he rummaged through his brain for about ten seconds to match a face to that voice. "Stick?" he said, and the low snarl that was offered in return confirmed his assumptions.

"Berry?" Nnoitra sounded like he could kill. "Why the-"

"Why do you have Shinji's phone?" Ichigo interrupted, frowning.

"I'm sure ya can figure that much out." Nnoitra paused to yawn, giving Ichigo more than enough time to understand Nnoitra's words.

"Give the phone to Shinji," Ichigo demanded. Talking to a grumpy Nnoitra at five in the morning was not what he wanted to do right now.

"Sleepin'."

"Wake him up."

"Not a chance," Nnoitra scoffed. "He's pissy in the mornin'."

"Alright, I'll wake him up," Ichigo said and grinned. "Put the phone next to Shinji's ear."

"What the-"

"Just do it, Stick."

He heard Nnoitra curse, but a sudden, soft snore told him the phone was now resting next to Shinji's head. Ichigo sucked in a deep breath and said, with the tone of someone who's speaking of the weather, "I got laid."

"_WHAT?_"

Ichigo threw his head back and laughed when he heard Shinji fall off the bed with a loud thud. He could hear Nnoitra exclaim in surprise and the sound of Shinji's struggling to get back up on the bed.

"What did you just say, Ichi?" Shinji sounded hysterical, and Ichigo could practically imagine him with messy hair and confused, sleep-deprived eyes. "You _finally_ got laid?"

"What do you mean, finally?" Ichigo said, still smiling warmly. "But yeah."

"So? How was it?"

"I'm not gonna get into details, I just wanted to annoy you by waking you up."

"Ichi, don't be so mean..."

"Ah, but I am," Ichigo snorted. "But now that you know, can you _please_ stop talking about it all the time? Stop asking questions, especially in public?"

"I'll consider it, Ichi," Shinji jingled. "Depends on what I get in return."

Ichigo groaned. "Three questions to which I have to answer truthfully?" he suggested, regretting the words the second they left his lips.

"Deal! Now if you'll excuse me, I'll have to cheer up a grumpy Nnoitra."

"I don't even wanna know."

The line broke and Ichigo chuckled. He stuck the phone into his pocket and started making his way back to the house. He felt like he was hosting a party for over a hundred butterflies in his stomach, and he couldn't wipe his grin off his face.

Well back in the house, he quickly scaled the stairs and peeked into his room. Grimmjow was still sleeping, strangling Ichigo's poor pillow. Ichigo grinned and trotted back downstairs, heading for the kitchen. He raided the refrigerator for a pack of bacon and some eggs. He flipped the stove on and started humming while he prepared the simple breakfast.

He had just cracked open the last egg when Grimmjow entered the room. He looked like a zombie, eyes closed at the bright morning sunlight. Somehow, the smell of food seemed to lead him where he wanted to go. He stepped up behind Ichigo and leaned over him.

"Mornin'," he mumbled, his sleepy voice incredibly enticing. Ichigo suppressed a shiver and leaned back into his chest without taking his eyes off the frying pan in front of him.

"Hey," he said. "Breakfast will be ready in five minutes."

"Oh?" Grimmjow chuckled softly. "I have to wait that long?" He leaned forward to kiss Ichigo, but he placed the spatula over Grimmjow's lips.

"Shower first, Grimm," he said, enjoying the groan that was heard in return. "There's a spare towel in the bathroom, use it."

"Yes, dear."

Ichigo grimaced at the nickname, but when Grimmjow left the room, he worried his constant smiling would set permanently. The task of getting rid of his smile cost him quite a large amount of concentration, and when he finally got rid of it, he could actually feel his jaw ache.

When Grimmjow returned, Ichigo had just set the plates of egg and bacon on the table. He walked straight up to Ichigo, grabbed his shoulders and kissed him. Ichigo quickly responded, memories of last night passing through his mind as their tongues battled for dominance.

When they pulled apart, Ichigo was left breathless. Grimmjow offered him a sultry grin and sat down by the table. Ichigo rubbed a hand over his warm cheeks and tried to regulate his breathing.

Once he succeeded, he grabbed a carton of juice from the fridge and strolled back to the table. "So," he said as he took his seat. "What're your plans for today?"

Grimmjow shrugged, a mouthful of food preventing him from speaking. "I dunno," he said when he swallowed. "I'll crash here fer a while, then head home, I suppose."

"You can stay here until my family comes back," Ichigo said, trying to sound nonchalant.

A smirk graced Grimmjow's lips. "Yer gonna miss me?" he asked teasingly, and Ichigo felt his face heat up. "I wanna stay, but we gotta keep up the work fer Hollow, and I don't have a laptop to bring here."

"Right," Ichigo said and nodded. "But, you know, If you're bored after we finish today's work..."

"I accept that offer," Grimmjow said and resumed his eating.

After finishing their food, they spent the morning watching a movie and playing some games. It went quite smoothly, until they found themselves tied together on Ichigo's bed. They were dangerously close to giving last night's actions another go, but then Grimmjow's phone went off. A seriously pissed off Nnoitra was on the other line, demanding to know why neither of them were online for today's work.

"I'll be back later, Ichi," Grimmjow said three minutes later as he was sprinting out of the front door.

Ichigo smiled at him and nodded. He waited in the doorway until Grimmjow had disappeared around the corner before walking inside again. A content sigh escaped his lips and he hurried upstairs to turn on the computer and join Nel, Nnoitra and Shinji.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

The remaining weeks before the tournament passed with incredible speed, and Ichigo suspected it had something to do with Grimmjow's everyday visits. During this time, Hollow had defeated the bosses of Flame Forest and Underground Laboratory three times, and Ichigo had received a new pair of fist weapons, which outclassed his old ones with ease.

He currently found himself standing before Aizen outside the gates of Las Noches. His group had just returned from their last tour through the dungeons of the World. Ichigo had visited his class trainer to turn in the final quest of hollowfication, and now awaited Aizen's orders to display his newfound power.

"Choose an opponent, Ichigo," Aizen said and gestured to the guildmembers standing behind him.

Ichigo offered the group a measuring glare before pointing at Shinji. "I wanna kick his ass once before the tournament," he said, grinning.

Shinji returned the smile and stepped out of the line. "I _am_ rank three of Hollow, Ichi," he said as he strode closer to Ichigo. "And a mage. Think you can keep up?"

"Worry about yourself, Shin," Ichigo retorted and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

Almost all of Las Noches had gathered around them to witness the trial. Shinji nodded in Ichigo's direction, a sign for him to make the first move. Ichigo cracked his fists and waited, letting the adrenaline raise to it's peak. Then, as if on cue, he smashed down the speed boost button and closed the distance between them in only a second.

Shinji's reflexes were incredible. Almost as if he knew exactly what Ichigo was about to do, he dodged Ichigo's first blow with ease. He leaped to the side and drew a strange symbol in the air in one fluid motion of his staff. Small bolts of fire appeared from nowhere and shot straight for Ichigo, who had to throw himself down on the ground to avoid them. They passed a hairsbreadth over his head, and exploded when they hit the ground.

The crowd went wild, clapping their hands and hollering as the battle grew more intense. It dawned on Ichigo exactly why Shinji played this game; for him, it didn't seem to matter if it was in real life or not, as long as the thrill of combat was offered to him. His toothy grin never once faded from his face, and every time Ichigo managed to strike him, he laughed before preforming spells Ichigo had never seen before.

Ichigo kept hovering his fingers over the button that would trigger hollowfication, but he didn't want to use it until the last moment. His health was only down to 50% so far, and he had managed to drop Shinji's to 78%.

He braced himself against a large rock that had been raised from the earth when Shinji had used some kind of shockwave. He watched the shards of ice that had just been fired from Shinji's staff draw closer, and when they were only a few inches from his face, he used the stone for extra leverage, and jumped. Ichigo heard the rock shatter when the ice hit it and thanked the creators of the World for making brawlers move so swiftly.

He turned around in mid-air so that he landed on all four right in front of Shinji. With his hands buried in the sand, Ichigo raised his legs off the ground and smashed a foot right into Shinji's face. A wave of triumph washed over him when he watched Shinji's health drop to 65%, but his confidence crumbled when Shinji smiled and raised his staff high over his head. Ichigo quickly jumped to his feet, but before he could react in any other way, Shinji slammed the blunt end of the staff into the ground.

The power of the blow made the sand fly high in the sky, and the ground beneath Ichigo's feet split open. During a second that seemed to last an eternity, Ichigo registered blue flames making their way up from the crack. He leaped high in the air, but the flames chased him. They encircled him in the air, and he cursed colorfully when his health was dragged down to 15%.

When his feet made contact with the ground again, the flames disappeared. He looked at Shinji, who was grinning spitefully at him. Just like the real Shinji, this character seemed to radiate a strong aura of confidence. Furious, Ichigo sucked in a deep breath and pressed hollowfication.

A shrill, distorted scream seemed to tear the sky in half. Ichigo watched, in awe, how small, white particles surrounded his character. His hair grew longer, horns stretched out of his head, and his entire body became snow white. His face was that of a skull's, with red markings over the eyes.

A whole new bar of abilities had popped up on his screen. Without waiting for Shinji to recover from the shock, Ichigo broke away from the ground with speed even he had difficulties to control. He randomly pressed the buttons, having next to no idea what would happen.

He planted a hand armed with sharp claws in Shinji's chest, and chuckled when he saw his health started going up. Strike after strike hit the mage, but when Ichigo tried to drive his hand straight through Shinji's head, he vanished.

Ichigo whirled around on the spot in time to see Shinji fire an enormous bolt of what seemed to be fire mixed with electricity. Feeling panic raise through him, he located an ability called 'Cero', and clicked it. A blood red ray blasted from between his horns. It collided with Shinji's bolt, and set off a huge explosion that knocked both characters back.

When Ichigo hit the ground, his hollowfication started to crumble and faded away. All the health he had regained had vanished because of the explosion. Agitated, he watched Shinji struggle to his feet. Their eyes locked for a moment, but just as they were about to pick up the fight again, Aizen stepped in between them.

"That's enough," he said and clapped his hands.

An earsplitting cheer rose from the crowds, a sound so loud Ichigo had to mute the game for a few seconds. He was breathing shakily where he sat in his chair, and he laughed nervously at his character's newfound power.

He turned on the volume again in time to hear Shinji raise his voice. "That was _sick_, Ichi!" he shouted over the ruckus in the background. "Oh man, without that explosion, you'd definitely taken me down!"

Ichigo grinned. "Lucky you, then." He glanced over the crowds and caught sight of Grimmjow, who gave him the thumbs up. Ichigo waved at him in return, but before they could get close enough to talk, Aizen spoke up again.

"Well then, ladies and gentlemen." He turned around to face his guildmembers. "The tournament will begin at 10 AM tomorrow morning, so I suggest you all spend the rest of this day resting. We'll gather tomorrow at the harbor of La Garganta at 9 AM sharp. Have a pleasant evening."

**xxxxxxxxxx**

AN; _Oooooh, man, the first half of this was soooo hard to write, since I've never written stuff like that before! Hope it was readable!_

_**Notice!** There will be no chapter next week! I've spent my entire summer so far working, and I now have two weeks to rest before school, so I'm going out of town for a week, and I won't be writing during this week! So, hope you can wait~_

_Ci vediamo, mia tesorini!_


	10. Let the tournament begin!

**Just a game?**

**Chapter ten – let the tournament begin!**

AN; _Sorry for the wait! I hope this is readable, your reviews are the only things that keep me going :P my life's a mess right now, so keep asking me to update, or I'll start leaving more gaps like this, and neither you or I want that!_

**xxxxxxxxxx**

After a sleepless night, Ichigo appeared at the harbor of La Garganta almost an hour earlier than necessary the following morning. He spent some time in the jungle, warming up his fingers by slaying some random monsters. His nerves were on the edge, and he flinched at every sound.

As time drew nearer 9 AM, exhilaration started growing along the nervousness. It did nothing to calm him down. On the contrary, his heart rate sped up and his palms became sweaty.

When he'd ran around the docks for almost forty five minutes, the familiar blue panther prowled off the boat. Ichigo, who had his back against it, almost jumped out of his skin when Grimmjow tapped him on the shoulder.

"Don't- oh," he said, embarrassment mixing with his already boiling emotions. "Sorry, Grimm."

"Why're ya so nervous?" Grimmjow asked and leaned back on his heels, grin set on his lips.

"The tournament," Ichigo said flatly.

"'S not such a big deal, ya know."

"'Not such a big deal'?" Ichigo repeated with disbelief. "It's the biggest event in all of the World! All the best players compete."

"Yeah, which means yer one of them, right?" Grimmjow said and shrugged. "Yer gonna be fine, we'll team up and beat the crap out of our enemies."

Ichigo sighed. "Sure, if you say so," he said meekly.

The following silence let him know Grimmjow was frowning, but before he could say anything, the sound of laughter reached his ears. He looked past Grimmjow and groaned when he saw Shinji and Nnoitra approaching them. Not feeling like offering either of them the opportunity and satisfaction to laugh at his nervous state, he quickly adapted his usual, slightly frowning expression.

"Heya, Ichi!" Shinji called as they came closer. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Ichigo said in a tone he hoped was nonchalant.

A toothy grin appeared on Shinji's face. "No need to be nervous yet," he said gleefully. "Start worrying in the semi-finals, that's when you'll really get fucked if you're not doing your best."

"Thanks, Shin, that helps a lot," Ichigo hissed through gritted teeth.

Both Nnoitra and Shinji started laughing at his reaction, but Ichigo didn't mind them. His focus was placed on a small, private chat window in the corner of his screen.

"_Don't mind those asses. It's yer first time here, being nervous is natural."_

Ichigo looked over at Grimmjow, who was standing a couple of feet from him. He was busy talking to Nnoitra, and therefore didn't, or pretended not to notice Ichigo's warm smile.

"_Since when're you such a softie?"_

"_I just don't like seeing something other than me make ya this nervous, Ichi." _

His smile turned into a grimace, and he shot a smoldering glare in Grimmjow's direction. Grimmjow was still not looking in his direction, but his trademark, shit-eating grin told Ichigo he knew exactly what kind of effect of his words had had.

Ichigo had wanted to walk over and smack his head, but the arrival of Hallibel, Starrk and Nel interrupted his thoughts. He sighed and stalked over to the group to join their conversation about strategical gameplay.

Aizen didn't appear until the exact second the clock hit 9 AM. He floated towards them and raised his arms as if he wanted to embrace them all. "Good morning," he said, a cool smile set on his lips. "I'm glad to see no one is late." He landed gracefully in their midst and picked up a stick from the ground. "Now, before we are summoned to the tournament, I have some final tactics I want to discuss."

He started drawing in the sand, addressing one guildmember at the time, pointing out things they could do differently. All the intense talk about abilities and movements made it easier for Ichigo to calm down. He leaned back on his heels and observed the other members while listening to Aizen's suggestions.

"_See, 's not so bad."_

The corners of his mouth curled upwards, and he glanced at Grimmjow from the corner of his eyes. Grimmjow was looking back at him, and even though they'd been dating for about a month, the intensity of his eyes still managed to make Ichigo blush like a little girl.

"_I suppose not."_

"_Keep the chat open, I'll talk ya through what's happening when we arrive at the tournament."_

Ichigo nodded, now feeling a bit more confident. He waited for Aizen to turn to him, but was happily surprised when Aizen stated he didn't have much to add about Ichigo's performance last night.

Aizen finished his pep-talk only a few minutes before 10 AM. He reached into his pocket and drew forth a small ticket. "This is our invitation," he said and placed it on the ground. "If you'd all be so kind and form a circle around it."

They did as they were told and when the circle was complete, the ticket started shining. "It'll teleport us to the tournament," Aizen explained as small lights started dancing around them all. "In three... two... one..."

A flash of white made Ichigo's eyes go watery, then the screen went black. Ichigo panicked, thinking his computer had died, but then he noticed a small 'loading' bar in the left corner. He let escape a nervous laugh. _Calm down, calm down, it hasn't even started yet..._

The 'loading' bar quickly filled up, and suddenly he found himself standing in what seemed to be a locker-room. Confused, he looked around at the other guildmembers, but they all looked like this was something normal.

"_Each guild's teleported into one of these rooms. There'll be a parade first, where the narrator of the tournament introduces all the guilds."_

"_Shit, a _parade_?! Isn't it going a little too far?"_

"_Yeah, but it's a good opportunity to observe yer enemies. And show off yer good looks."_

Ichigo chuckled, but the sound was drowned by a deafening voice that echoed through the room. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the biggest event of the year, welcome to the 15th Annual Guild Tournament of the World!" Distant cheering followed this statement. "As you all know, I am one of the game masters, Ratchet, and I'll be narrating the tournament's flow this year!" More cheering and the sound of thousands of people clapping their hands.

"Now, I think we should get this thing on the road! Let's meet our contestants!"

The small door to the locker-room opened, and Aizen gestured the rest to follow him. As they walked through a dark corridor, Ichigo listened to the short introductions for the other guilds. "Last year's winner, please join me in welcoming back the Shinigami, and their proud leader, Komamura!" The crowd was going wild, probably screaming until their lungs broke.

The corridor ended in an opening bathed in light, and the sound of the audience grew louder for every step they took. "And here's last year's runner-up, Quincy, with their leader, Kirge!" Ichigo was tempted to turn off the volume, but the adrenaline in his body hindered him from doing so. When they walked through the opening, Ichigo's jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"Last year's number three, here comes Hollow, led by their master, Aizen!"

They were located in what seemed to be an enormous dome. Seats and stands covered the walls all the way to the roof, every seat occupied by a player from either the Light or the Dark side. Shining lights were raining down from the roof, and an awestruck Ichigo was suddenly bathed in spotlights.

The members of Hollow moved forth on what seemed to be a bridge that led to a big platform, where the narrator was waiting. Ichigo chuckled when he looked at Shinji, who was waving at the audience and sending air kisses in every direction. He twisted his head and was surprised to see the rest, even Grimmjow, following his lead, although, _thank god_, Grimmjow wasn't offering the crowd any of his kisses.

Before Ichigo could even begin to raise his hand, they had arrived at the platform, and took their place in a neat row next to the Shinigami. While Ratchet moved on to introduce the following guild, Shun Shun Rikka, Ichigo took the time to observe the two guilds that supposedly were better than Hollow.

The first thing Ichigo registered when he watched the members of Shinigami, was that wearing a mask was clearly a fashion. Their leader, Komamura, was built like a giant, and he wore a strange mask over his face, hiding it completely. Four of the other members also wore masks. Six out of ten of them were warriors, they had two clerics and two mages.

The leader of Quincy, Kirge, was downstraight _creepy_. The guy was tall, dressed like what could be a soldier from World War I, and he wore such a menacing expression that it sent shivers down Ichigo's spine. A giant, ornate bow was strapped over his shoulders, and he had a wand sticking out of his belt. _Nymph_, Ichigo thought. _He can also use magic_.

His eyes traveled over to the members of Quincy, and he blinked rapidly a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. A young man with raven hair and glasses, dressed completely in white, was standing right next to Kirge, his face expressing nothing but pride and dignity.

Ichigo glanced down the line of his own guild and slightly to catch Shinji's attention. "Shinji," he hissed as loudly as he dared. Shinji leaned forward just a bit and raised an eyebrow at him. "Isn't that Uryuu Ishida from out school?" Ichigo mouthed and pointed towards Quincy.

Shinji looked confused, but he followed Ichigo's finger and when his mouth fell open, Ichigo figured this was the first time Ishida had joined this tournament. He leaned back with a grin on his lips. _This would be the perfect moment to drag Ishida down from his throne..._

"I'm sure you're all very eager to learn about our awards this year!" Ratchet called, snapping Ichigo out of his thoughts. "I'm proud to announce, the creators of the World have been extra generous this year. They have created an expansion set that adds a whole new raid, Fullbring Manor to the game! It comes with five new bosses, who all drop special gear and legendary weapons never before seen in the World. Every member of the victorious guild will receive a copy of this expansion set, along with the usual interview of each and every member, and the deposit of 5000 gold into the guild bank!"

All the guilds on the platform began discussing the prize among their groups, and the exhilaration was obvious in every guild. Ichigo swallowed thickly and looked at Grimmjow, who'd bared his teeth in a feral grin. Even Aizen seemed a little less dignified when the glorious prize was announced.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, if you would turn your attention to the big screen!" Ratchet said. "The plan of the tournament is being processed!"

The screen, which hung in the middle of the dome, had been turned on, and now the names of all 46 guilds were flying around on it. As if drawn by a hand, the lines that formed the tournament tree was appearing on the screen, and soon, the guilds settled by one of the lines. Ichigo squinted his eyes to read who they were facing in the first round.

"Our first battle of this tournament will be..." Ratchet paused to let the excitement build up. "Fraccion versus Hollow!" The logos of the two guilds flashed over the big screen, and the crowd screamed their approval.

"The first round is simple," Ratchet explained. "Both guilds will be teleported to an empty arena, where they have to engage in a battle of strength and strategy. The guild who's members die first, loses."

The platform beneath Ichigo started glowing. He looked at the big screen in time to see the words 'Hueco Mundo arena' written on it.

"_The first round always takes place on an arena. It's pretty much where they get rid of the weakest competitors."_

Ichigo smirked and nodded in Grimmjow's direction. The screen flashed a quick 'loading' sign again, and when it disappeared, all the members of Hollow were standing on a very simple arena, decorated only by four pillars to hide behind. On the opposite side of the arena, the members of Fullbring were standing, mumbling to each other and nervously glancing over at Hollow.

"The general rules for this tournament are easy to remember," Ratchet's voice said. "If any sort of hacking or cheating is discovered, that guild will be instantly disqualified. Attempt to sabotage another team will lead to immediate disqualification. If a member dies during a battle, he will not be able to participate in that battle any more; he'll be resurrected in time for the next match. All cooldowns will be reset at the beginning of each battle, so don't be picky to use your best abilities."

"Shinji, Nnoitra, Grimmjow, Ichigo and Nel, you charge at them from behind the left pillar," Aizen said casually, like he hadn't even paid any attention to Ratchet. "Starrk, Hallibel, Gin, Szayel and I will do the same from the right."

All of them nodded, but Ichigo found he couldn't move. He parted his lips to question Grimmjow, but then he noticed a big number 10 hanging in midair in the middle of the arena. The numbers started dropping, drawing closer to the beginning of the battle.

3...

2...

1...

A deafening crack sounded throughout the air, and both guilds started moving at the same time. Ichigo followed Grimmjow, who transformed into the panther and started moving around the left pillar. He grinned when Nnoitra sprinted right past him, laughing like a maniac. Nel was chanting silently, casting enchantments over Ichigo that raised his stamina and defense. Shinji stayed right behind Ichigo, already forming a huge bolt of fire to shoot at his enemies.

When they rounded the pillar and the members of Fraccion were right in front of them, time seemed to start moving in slow motion, and the World went mute. Then, Grimmjow's voice spoke right into Ichigo's ear, words that made Ichigo shiver with thrill.

"Go wild."

All hell broke loose as the two guilds clashed. The sound of gunshots and sword meeting sword filled the air. Spells flew in every direction, making it hard to know which ones should be dodged. It took Ichigo about three seconds to realize Fraccion was nowhere near Hollow's rank. They seemed disoriented and uncertain, and their gear was pure crap.

Ratchet was still narrating, but Ichigo was too focused on beating the crap of a human warrior to notice. He landed hit after hit on the warrior, taking him down to 50% in a matter of seconds. The warrior presented a decent defense, but Ichigo couldn't help but think of this as a warm-up.

"Outta the way, Ichi!"

Ichigo's body obeyed Shinji's order on pure instinct, and two seconds later, the warrior's body exploded and fell to the ground, dead.

"Living bomb, baby," Shinji jingled and dashed past Ichigo to blast away more poor players.

Ichigo chuckled and was about to follow him when a celestian archer broke away from the crowd. Ichigo watched him take aim and fire a burning arrow that hit Szayel in the chest, making him fall backwards and lie motionlessly on the ground.

_Fraccion's leader._

"Nel, go cover the other group!" Grimmjow called and turned to face the archer. "Me and Ichi will take him down."

He set off without looking back, and Ichigo was quick to follow. They avoided any enemy who approached them, and before the archer could react, Grimmjow had pounced off the ground and buried razor-sharp teeth into his neck.

The archer hollered in surprise and attempted to push the panther off him, but with no such luck. Grimmjow eased his hold and jumped to the ground just in time to get out of the way of Ichigo's kick. Ichigo hit the archer full in the face, sending him flying into the walls of the arena.

A whistling sound erupted from the rumble where the archer was laying, and three lions appeared around Ichigo. He didn't react quickly enough, and was tackled to the ground as one of the lions leaped right on him, holding him down for the other lions to bite him to death.

"I don't think so!" he growled and hit hollowfication.

The shrill scream made the entire arena freeze. Ichigo twisted his body and pushed all three lions off him. He quickly jumped to his feet, and from the short glimpse he got of the remaining members of Fraccion, it was clear they had not expected this.

He whirled around and located the leader, who was still trying to manage Grimmjow on his own. His health had been dragged down to 28%, and it was rapidly decreasing.

Without wasting more seconds of his precious hollowfication, Ichigo broke away from the ground and the instant he was in range, his claws tore a deep cut in the archer's face. Together with Grimmjow, they mauled the archer to an inch of his death. When he was left with just 2%, they stopped simultaneously and backed away.

"Ya wanna do the honors?" Grimmjow asked and transformed back into a hybrid.

With the final seconds of Ichigo's hollowfication, he grinned and fired a cero. The archer took the hit dead-on and dropped to the ground, his body charred from the blood red ray. As his hollowfication crumbled away, Ichigo turned around to see all the other member's of Fraccion were already dead, along with only Szayel from Hollow.

A loud siren went off, and Ichigo found himself standing on the platform in the dome again. The crowd was clapping their hands enthusiastically, praising Hollow for their quick victory. Ichigo looked to the side and saw Shinji give him the thumbs-up.

"The winner of this first round is Hollow!" Ratchet shouted into his microphone. "And I must say, what a classy victory it was! I don't think anyone of us expected Hollow to bring along a brawler with hollowfication!" Ichigo looked at the big screen and a wave of pride washed over him when he saw himself transform into the monster-like creature and thoroughly _own_ Fraccion's leader. "A brawler alone is rare for a guild from the Dark side to have. This looks like it could shape up as an exciting tournament, people!"

The crowd went crazy, chanting Ichigo's name and clapping. Feeling quite satisfied, Ichigo grinned and offered the crowd a wave.

"_Way to win the crowd over, Ichi."_

Ichigo smiled at Grimmjow and lightly punched his shoulder. _"Thanks. Now what happens?"_

"_Well, the next round will start in almost three hours, and since we went out first, it means we have free time now while the other guilds settle their scores."_

"_I see."_ Ichigo's mind hesitated, but his fingers moved on their own. _"Wanna come over? My house is empty..."_

Grimmjow's grin went from feral to lecherous with the speed of light. "Always, Ichi," he murmured, his husky voice making Ichigo shiver. "I'll be over in ten."

**xxxxxxxxxx**

When Ichigo and Grimmjow returned to the dome two and a half hours later, the final match had just started. Ichigo took his place on the platform and watched the screen, where a massacre was currently taking place. Quincy was battling a guild called Zanpakuto.

Or maybe 'battling' was a strong word; slaughtering was more fitting. The members of Quincy seemed to warp around the stage, not even letting the leader of Zanpakuto get close enough to harm.

The battle was finished in three minutes, and when the Quincy returned to the platform, they looked like they might've just as well been out for a walk.

"And with that impressive display, this tournament's first round is over!" After almost three hours of screaming and clapping their hands, Ichigo was surprised how much noise could come from the audience. The sheer volume was enough to lift the roof up from the walls.

"The victors of round one are Hollow!" The members of Hollow raised their hands and welcomed the explosion of sound the crowd emitted. "Tres Bestia!"

While Ratchet kept presenting the remaining guilds, Ichigo quickly took off his emulator, sprinted to the bathroom and downed a painkiller. He knew, with the amount of time he'd be spending on the computer, along with an incredibly sore behind, he would need it sooner or later.

When he returned to his seat, Ratchet had just finished his short introductions. He waited for the applause to ebb out before raising his voice again. "Now, since every member of every guild seems present, let's waste no more time and move on to the next round!" he said and gestured to the big screen. "We'll start with Hollow versus Tres Bestia! They'll face each other in a difficult terrain, the burning forest around the volcano of Ryuujin Jakka!"

The area appeared on the big screen. The trees of the forest were indeed burning, the ground occasionally covered in lava from the almost constantly erupting volcano. "Healers, I hope you're ready for the task to keep your fellow members alive when threatened by the molten liquid," Ratchet said and grinned. "Off you go!"

The loading screen came and went, and Ichigo had to bite his teeth together to not exclaim at the sight. The stage was very similar to the raid, Flame Forest, but this seemed even more extreme. It was like someone held a burning blanket before Ichigo's eyes; he couldn't see very far ahed, and the flames looked so real, Ichigo's body adapted a steady rise in temperature.

"Tres Bestia was teleported to the other side of the volcano," Aizen said calmly. "Splitting up and rounding the volcano is very risky, since the entire Tres Bestia can decide to move together, but I think we can take that risk. Mages, the lava is freezable, so when an eruption occurs, try your best to freeze it before it reaches the rest of your group."

Ichigo glanced up at the volcano. Lava kept spewing out of the tip, but it didn't even reach halfway down the mountain before vanishing. Ichigo strongly suspected it had something to do with the fact that the battle hadn't started yet.

"The groups are almost the same, but I'm trading Nnoitra for Gin," Aizen went on. "I can manage freezing the lava on my own, but just to be sure, I want two mages in the other team."

Nnoitra grumbled under his breath, but nodded. Gin simply smiled, his usual wide grin cold enough to freeze anything and everything around them.

"When the countdown runs out..."

The sound of a canon being fired signaled the beginning of the round, and both groups made way for the volcano. Ichigo knew it was just because he was nervous, but he blamed his sweaty palms on the burning surroundings. Over and over, he let go of the computer-mouse to wipe his hands on his pants, his shirt, anything that would make them less slippery.

When Hollow reached the base of the volcano, they split up into their groups and started the trip around the volcano.

"Anyone ever been here before?" Ichigo asked, trying to bite back his nervousness.

"Nope," Grimmjow said. "Last year we were on a wide, empty field with thunder striking down at random places every other second."

"Holy shit," Ichigo said breathlessly. "That sounds like hell."

"Nah, as long as yer good enough, ya can lure the enemies to stand at the spot where the lightning's gonna strike next."

"That crosses the line from confident to cocky, Grimm," Ichigo mused and shook his head.

Grimmjow parted his lips to speak, but his voice was drowned by an earsplitting rumble. The whole group stopped moving and looked up at the volcano. A mass of shining red liquid had just flown out of the tip, approaching the surroundings with haste.

"All hands on deck, Gin," Shinji snorted and pointed his staff to the lava.

"Ready when ya are," Gin said and mirrored Shinji's movements.

They both drew a symbol in the air, and streams of shot out of the end of their staffs. The second the ice his the falling lava, it became rigid, standing like a crummy ice-sculpture above the group.

"Neat," Grimmjow said and signed them to keep moving. "Hope ya can keep that up when we meet Tres Bestia."

"Don't underestimate me, Grimm," Shinji said with a toothy grin. "If I remember correctly, you couldn't take me down the last time you challenged me..."

"Shut yer trap," Grimmjow snarled and transformed into the panther. "I think I heard something."

Ichigo's muscles became tense and he gazed out over the destroyed scenery. They stood completely still for almost a minute, then Neliel pointed to the forest. "They're in there," she whispered. "Hiding among the trees."

"Fucking bunch of ninjas, eh?" Grimmjow sighed and his tail twitched in annoyance. "Well, then, here's what we're gonna do. I can use prowl, which allows me to become invisible to my enemies. Nel, ya can use that "one with the earth"-thing and move around in camouflage, and we'll lure them out. Sound good?"

"You know, Grimm, the way you come up with shit like this, I think you should be next in command after Aizen," Shinji said and smirked. "But it sounds good, so go work your magic."

"Cool, they ya guys stay here fer a sec," Grimmjow said and turned his back to them. "Be prepared to kick some ass."

Ichigo couldn't help but smile at the way Grimmjow was taking control. And at how obvious it was that he loved it. Ichigo's smile grew wider when he wondered how Grimmjow would react if he said he wanted to be on top for once.

His thoughts must've been shown on his face, for Shinji quirked an eyebrow at him and equipped a toothy grin. He didn't press the matter thought, and Ichigo knew, despite his behavior, even Shinji was nervous. If even just a little.

A loud roar and an explosion made all three of them assume defensive stances. Ichigo waited, fingers trembling slightly as he hovered them over the keyboard. _Any moment now..._

The majority of Tres Bestia came sprinting out of the forest at the same time as the volcano erupted again. Shinji cursed colorfully and turned his back towards the approaching crowd. He and Gin repeated their spells, leaving Ichigo alone to greet the group of seven that now was only a few feet away.

"_They're on this side."_ He opened a new private chat and quickly sent these words to Aizen, hoping they'd reach Ichigo and the others in time.

After a deep groan, Ichigo jumped off the ground and landed straight on the closest member of Tres Bestia. He caught a quick glimpse of Grimmjow and Neliel, both chasing after the group, and with newfound confidence, he started his assault.

His health had dropped to 12% when Neliel finally got close enough to heal him. The same sphere that had encircled Grimmjow during their second duel surrounded him, and the members of Tres Bestia who were standing too close were thrown back.

"Thanks," he said and smashed a warrior in the face at the same time as Grimmjow ripped his back open. Shinji and Gin quickly joined, and together, the group managed to keep themselves from dying. Nel was a spectacular healer, and it surprised Ichigo she wasn't ranked higher than him.

But even though they succeeded in killing one of the Tres Bestia members, six remained, two of them healers. He quickly checked the others' health, and immediately noticed his was the lowest, but even Grimmjow's was decreasing. Neliel was focusing on him, but he sprinted to her side to get her attention.

"Don't waste your mana on me, heal Grimm, I'll go hollowfication," he said, and when she nodded and went for Grimmjow, Ichigo hit hollowfication.

His increased attack power and self-regeneration made it possible to take down both healers. When his hollowfication faded away, only three warriors and a mage remained. Shinji and Gin teamed up on the mage, but even as he fell to the ground, the three remaining didn't seem worried. Instead, they smiled coldly and raised their right arms to the sky.

"Bring forth the beast, Ayon," they all called out simultaneously.

A mass of what looked like blood, guts and skin crawled up from the cracks in the mountain. Slightly repulsed, Ichigo watched the lump grow larger and larger, to the point where he had to tilt his head back to get a good look at what it was forming.

"This is _not _good..." he whispered breathlessly.

Limbs started growing out of the mass; hoofed legs, a small mountain-sized chest, arms thick as trees, and a small, faceless, horned head. The creature was almost as big as the volcano. It tilted his bizarre head back and screeched, a sound that made Ichigo's skin crawl.

A small icon appeared in the upper right corner. Ichigo cursed when he read, _"Roar of undead. Defense decreased by 20%."_.

"I really, _really_ don't think we can fight that," he said as the monster threw its head around. "I suggest a strategical retreat, until Aizen's group get here."

Shinji nodded frantically and backed a few steps. "I agree with Ichigo, we'll be fucked thoroughly by-"

His sentence was cut short when the horned giant aimed a fist at him. Shinji took the hit dead on, and the impact made him fly several feet to the side.

"Shin!" Ichigo shouted, his eyes still on the monster. One look at Shinji told Ichigo the beast would one-hit KO all of them. "We're so fucked..."

"Focus, Ichigo," Grimmjow growled and leaped to the side to avoid being flattened by another huge fist. "Gin, try to freeze him to the spot! Nel, can ya heal Shin?"

The question had just left his lips when Neliel's body hit the ground, where it laid motionless. Grimmjow cursed and Ichigo swallowed thickly. This was just the second round, they couldn't be defeated yet.

Gin had created enormous shackles of ice that rooted the monster to the spot, but its reach was long enough even so. It stretched after Gin, who avoided it just barely, but still enduring a hit that cost him 64%.

"Alright," Grimmjow said and transformed into a hybrid. "Gin, Ichi, can ya buy me ten seconds? I have something that could work."

Gin nodded and Ichigo said, "Yeah.". Grimmjow gestured for them to get going. Ichigo heard him start to chant something, but his focus was stolen when a giant hand came soaring towards them. "Freeze it, Gin!" he shouted and buried his feet into the ground to prepare his strongest punch.

Gin complied, and when the monster's hand was close enough, Ichigo countered the hand with his own. The impact of the blow made the ground tremble, and the monster retreated. A moment of relief washed over Ichigo, then he realized the ground's shaking didn't have anything to do with his attack.

The volcano was erupting again.

"Gin." He turned to the silver-haired hybrid in desperation. "Please tell me you can freeze that on your own."

"I can try, but I ain't makin' no promises," Gin said. "Quickly back to Grimm an' I'll start preparin'."

They hurried back to Grimmjow, who was still chanting. "How much longer?" Ichigo breathed when they got close enough.

"_3 seconds."_

A horrid scream stole Ichigo's attention. The monster had no chance of avoiding the lava. The liquid fire splashed over it, and a health-bar Ichigo hadn't noticed before showed it dropped to almost 50%.

Gin succeeded to freeze the lava, but his magic powers ran out from the trial. He slumped to the ground, still smiling. "That good enough fer ya?" he panted.

"Amazing," Ichigo said and attempted to smile, but the presence of the monster kept him from doing so.

"Then the rest's up to ya, Grimm," Gin said and coughed weakly.

It took Ichigo a few moments to notice Grimmjow had stopped chanting. When Ichigo turned to look at him, his eyebrows flew up to his hairline, and his mouth went dry.

Before him stood a creature neither human nor animal. Grimmjow's hair had grown out all the way over his waist, his fingers had become claws, and his body was covered in what looked like a white, animal-like armor. His ears had grown out, and the teeth in his grin were those of a feline's. He looked like a shapeshifting gone wrong, like a human someone had tried to operate into a panther.

"Holy shit..." Ichigo whispered breathlessly. The sight had made him completely forget about the beast, who was quickly recovering from the lava.

"Cover yer ears, Ichi." Even Grimmjow's voice had changed; it sounded more feral now. _If that was possible._ Ichigo turned down the volume in fear he might go deaf if he heard another roar.

Grimmjow sucked in a deep breath and the sound that he let out would've made Ichigo's ears bleed if he'd heard it in real life. The monster roared in response, but what must've been the soundwaves from Grimmjow's voice made the giant stumble backwards.

Grimmjow braced himself on all four and grinned, a malicious, blood-icing grin. "Let's dance."

**xxxxxxxxxx**

AN;_ Holy f*cking f*ck, I've never had a harder time producing a chapter! Seriously, this was almost the death of me! And if ya think it's crap, please keep it to yerselves. Yer probably right, but since I worked pretty damn hard to write these 12 pages, I's like to only hear the good stuff. Sorry!_

_Now, some things ya might not know, stuff that I mentioned;_

_Oh, the form Grimmjow assumes in the end, it's his released form. That badass state he fights Ichigo in_

_Komamura (guildmaster of Shinigami) is the wolf-faced captain from the 7__th__ division_

_Kirge (guildmaster of Quincy) is the guy who Ichigo just had a battle with in Hueco Mundo (in the manga)_

_Tres Bestia is Hallibel's Fraccion in the series. Ya know, the three who create Ayon, the big-ass monster who rampages all over Karakura in the Aizen war_

_Ryuujin Jakka is Genryuusai Yamamoto's (old shinigami, long beard? Yeah, him) sword's name_

_Review please, I need encouragement!_

_Ci vediamo, mia tesorini!_


	11. Right on time

**Just a game?**

**Chapter eleven – right on time**

AN;_ Thank you, all of my reviewers! Though I may not respond to all of ya, know that I seriously appreciate ya taking yer time to leave me a comment. Every review, even the short ones, means so much, and they keep me going although I really don't have the inspiration or patience to write, so... thank you, and I love ya all!_

**xxxxxxxxxx**

"Let's dance."

The sheer bloodlust in Grimmjow's voice made Ichigo shiver. He watched, entranced, as Grimmjow broke away from the ground, dashing towards the giant monster without even a shred of uncertainty.

The monster stopped trying to rid itself from the lava and turned its attention to Grimmjow. It bellowed in rage and crouched down to flatten the approaching hybrid, and just as Ichigo was about to open his mouth to warn Grimmjow, he disappeared from Ichigo's line of sight.

"Where'd he..." he murmured in confusion, his body still feeling oddly distant.

The giant seemed to mirror his confusion. It straightened its back and twisted its head around. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Ichigo would've found the picture of this confused monster amusing.

"Over here, ya dumbass!"

Ichigo turned to the source of the voice at the same time as the monster. Grimmjow was standing on the top of the volcano, and even from that far, Ichigo could see he was grinning. His pearl white teeth seemed to shine through the smog that kept rising from the pit behind him.

The monster shrieked in anger again and started climbing up towards Grimmjow. Its movements were clumsy, but its enormous size made it move fast enough.

"What the heck are you _doing_..." Ichigo groaned and sprinted towards the giant, but before he had taken even five steps, the sound of an explosion almost made him jump out of his skin. He looked up at Grimmjow in time to see him throwing a handful of what looked like huge claws at the monster.

The attack hit the monster full in the face, and it lost its grip on the mountain wall. As if in slowmotion, it started falling backwards. Ichigo quickly backed a few steps, but something caught his attention; the three warriors who had summoned the giant were standing still in the same spot, with their arms still raised.

Before he could observe any further, the giant hit the ground with a crash that made the trees shake violently. Ichigo lost his balance and toppled over, rolling down the steep hill until he managed to stop by grabbing onto a burning tree.

"Ya okay, Ichi?" Grimmjow appeared in front of him and pulled him to his feet. "It didn't land on ya, did it?"

"Do I look like a pancake?" Ichigo asked sarcastically and started moving up the hill again. "Grimm, I don't think we have to kill that thing. Those warriors who summoned it are still standing on the same spot, which means the monster is kept here by a channeling spell."

"So as long as we interrupt that spell..."

"The monster should disappear," Ichigo said and nodded. "But how we're supposed to get to them with big beasty in the way is..."

"How 'bout ya let us worry about that, berry boy?"

Grimmjow and Ichigo whirled around to the source of the sound, and Ichigo felt a wave of relief washing over him when he saw Aizen, Nnoitra, Starrk, Hallibel and Szayel running towards them from the edge of the forest.

"About fucking time!" Grimmjow snapped and spat out a mouthful of blood onto the grass. "How could it've taken that long to get here?"

"Easy, _Panthera_," Nnoitra cackled and bounced his axe up and down on his shoulder. "Ya might've run into the beast, but we got three ninjas to hunt down. Little bastards had increased their agility to the point where it was impossible to keep up with them..."

"Yes, yes, very impressive," Ichigo bit off and pointed at the monster, who was slowly getting to its feet. "But that thing there's already killed off Shin and Nel, Gin's all out of magic power, I've used my hollowfication, and Grimm..." He paused to properly look at Grimmjow's new appearance. "... Well, I don't know what badass spell he's using, but other than that, we're thoroughly fucked."

"Easy there, number seven," Nnoitra said with a toothy grin. "Why don't ya an' big blue take a seat and let the big boys take care of this."

"The fuck did ya just-" Grimmjow snarled, but Aizen interrupted him.

"Now, now, let's not fight. However, I must agree with Nnoitra; we'll take on the fight from here, so you two can stay in the back."

"Not a chance," Grimmjow hissed through bared teeth. "Front line soldier, baby, deal with it."

With those words, he turned his back to the remaining members of Hollow and dashed towards the monster. "Sorry about that," Ichigo said and took a few steps in the same direction as Grimmjow. "I'll help him stall the giant. Behind it stands who I assume are the leaders of Tres Bestia, and they're using a channeling spell to keep the big beasty alive. Kill them, and the monster should disappear."

After getting an approving nod from Aizen, Ichigo set off after Grimmjow. "Oi, Grimm!" he shouted, and Grimmjow halted. "They're going after the three warriors, so I'd say we have a few minutes to blow off some steam on that thing." He bumped his fists together and grinned. "Wanna see who can deal the most damage before it disappears?"

Grimmjow mirrored his smile and nodded. "It's on, Ichi," he said and resumed his running, but just as he was about to deal the first strike, the monster vanished.

"What the..."

Ichigo looked over his shoulder and burst out in laughter; Aizen and the rest had already killed off the remaining warriors of Tres Bestia. "Pfft, boring," Grimmjow sighed, and before Ichigo could recover, he was back in the dome and bright spotlights turned his screen white.

"First winner of the second round, give it up for Hollow!" Ratchet raised his arms and the crowd followed his lead. "My my, a summoning spell of that class this early in the tournament? I'd say this is the most exciting year ever!" More cheering. "Alrighty then, Hollow will proceed into the next round, which will start in a few hours. But first, ladies and gentlemen we have the 11th division versus Vizard!"

**xxxxxxxxxx**

Ichigo took the break as an opportunity to take a long walk. The fresh air worked wonders for his slightly throbbing head, but he winced when he noticed how stiff his shoulders were.

He'd been outside for almost an hour when he arrived back at his doorstep. He kicked out of his shoes and trotted into the living room, where Karin and Yuzu were watching a movie. "Where's the old man?" he asked and leaned over the couch.

"Got called to the clinic," Karin said without taking her eyes off the screen. "Some big emergency or something. He won't be home all night."

"Ah, I see." Ichigo poked the back of Yuzu's head. "Yuz, would you be an angel and give me a massage? My shoulders are killing me..."

"Sure, big brother," Yuzu chirped. "Come sit on the floor in front of me."

Just as Ichigo was about to sit down, his body froze. The image of he and Grimmjow sitting like this, on this very spot, flashed before his eyes. He'd been drying Grimmjow's hair, and that had lead to...

"What's wrong, big brother?"

Ichigo mentally slapped himself and sat down. "Nothing," he said, his face flushed with a light red.

Karin looked away from the screen and at him, a wide grin on her lips, as if she knew what was going through Ichigo's head. "So, Ichi-nii," she said smugly as she turned back to the TV. "That Grimmjow guy..." The pause left Ichigo flustered, and he grimaced when Yuzu pressed down on his tense muscles. "When do we get to meet him?"

"I don't know," Ichigo replied. "Do you want to get to know him that bad?"

He felt Yuzu squirm a little, and he couldn't help but smile. "Well," Karin said. "It seems like a long time, you know, dating for a month and not introducing him to your family."

"Oh, so you don't think the old man would send Grimm away with his tail between his legs?"

"I can keep goat face in check," Karin mused. "We all wanna meet him, right, Yuzu?"

"Oh," Yuzu said, obviously scared of voicing her opinion. "Y-yeah, of course..."

"You really don't have to worry, Yuz," Ichigo chuckled. "He won't eat you."

"Yeah, he only does that with Ichi-nii-"

Ichigo bounced off his seat and placed both hands over Karin's face. "You, shut up!" he hissed. He frowned when he noticed Karin's eyes were dancing mischievously. "Ignore her, Yuzu," he said and stood up straight. "He's really a good guy. I'll probably invite him over soon. When I'm sure the old man can behave like an adult."

"O-okay," Yuzu said with an uncertain smile. "Do you want me to continue the massage?"

"No, I'm good, thanks," Ichigo said and headed for the doorway. "Call me when dinner's ready."

**xxxxxxxxxx**

"The third round will take place in a dungeon! This stage will require intelligence and speed, as it is a time-challenge. Yes, the guild who first brings down the boss will win! Or, of course, those who remain alive. This boss is very hard to defeat, you'll have to think strategically if you want to win this guy! He has five different phases, and each phase comes with different methods!"

Ichigo eyed the guild they were facing in this challenge. The 11th division, famous for their brutal strength, didn't seem too fond of this sort of challenge. Aizen, however, seemed very pleased, and Ichigo figured this was exactly the kind of stage he liked.

They were sent to the dungeon, which seemed quite plain. It had a rectangular shape, with a wall in the middle that separated the two guilds. The hall before the boss was flooded with small monsters, and all the way from where he stood, Ichigo could spot the boss; a gigantic demon with six legs, four arms and two horned heads. Each hand wielded a different weapon, and its many feet were decorated by claws that easily stretched over 4".

From here, Ichigo could still see the 11th division. They were all looking at the boss with hungry eyes. Ichigo huffed and focused his eyes on the countdown, which was now dropping down from seven.

The familiar sound of a canon being fired echoed through the dungeon, and both guilds threw themselves into the middle of the monsters. Taking down the small fry was surprisingly difficult, seeing as they had healers of their own.

"Healers first, healers first," Aizen called and sealed one of said healers in a pillar of ice. Curiosity made Ichigo run over and smash the pillar, which shattered into millions of pieces, effectively killing the one sealed inside.

There was no way of knowing how far the other guild had come. That very thought made Ichigo feel nervous. They could already be battling the boss for all he knew. The thick, solid wall that split the dungeon up in two different stages blocked out every sound.

Hollow picked up a satisfying tempo of killing the small monsters. In only six minutes, they'd reached the boss. It looked even bigger up close. It was definitely larger than the monster they'd fought in round two.

"Everybody ready?" Aizen asked and looked at them all. "Hallibel, I'm assigning you to focus on keeping Nnoitra alive. Neliel, you'll heal the rest of us. The tactics for this boss changes all the time, so be sure to listen very carefully to what the others say. Any questions?" When no one spoke up, he smiled. "Well, then. Nnoitra, if you'd do the honors..."

"Aye, sir," Nnoitra cackled and leisurely strolled into the final room. He casually walked up to the monster, who was too busy to stare up at the ceiling to pay him any heed whatsoever.

That is, until Nnoitra buried his axe in one of its feet.

The change was instant. One of the demon's heads screeched in pain, while the other started laughing. One of its four arms, the one holding a sword, came flying towards Nnoitra with incredible speed, but he dodged it and started running towards the other end of the room.

"Right this way, ya big freak!" he taunted and slammed the axe into another one of its legs. The demon turned to chase him, and in the process, it exposed its bare back to the rest of Hollow.

"Go," Aizen said cheerfully at the same time as he aimed a shard of ice between the demon's shoulder blades.

Ichigo, Grimmjow and Szayel all dashed forward while the mages and shamans stayed behind. They attacked the demon's legs, tore up the skin until it looked like a bloody mess, but it kept its focus on Nnoitra, who laughed like a maniac as he dodged, parried and countered all the demon's attacks.

For two more minutes they kept this up. Then, when the demon's health had dropped with 20%, it suddenly turned around, running past Ichigo and raising the arm that held an axe at Hallibel.

"Threats don't work, Aizen!" Nnoitra called and ran after the monster. "Keep yer distance, all of ya, it'll switch targets in a little bit!"

The group scattered, keeping a safe distance from the demon whilst still attacking it. Just like Nnoitra had predicted, it suddenly stopped chasing after Hallibel and faced Starrk, who was trapped in a corner. He smirked lazily, put two fingers to his mouth and whistled.

Instantly, around fifty silver wolves appeared around the demon. They flocked around its legs and started clawing and biting on them. It slowed the demon down a little, giving Starrk the opportunity to get away.

Suddenly, one of the heads, the one that had screamed in the beginning, threw its head back and produced another ear-splitting howl. This one, however, didn't sound pained at all. An extremely ominous chill creeped down Ichigo's spine. His muscles tensed, and braced himself for anything that might happen.

Barely he had time to prepare himself before large bolts of greenish yellow fire started raining down from the ceiling. When it hit the floor, it left a flame behind, a flame that would burn everyone who touched it.

Damaging the demon instantly became more difficult. To dodge the fire and the rampaging monster, who now had switched to Shinji, seemed close to impossible. It was only the mages and hunters who could land any decent hits on it. And Grimmjow, who thanks to his panther form, could move faster than Ichigo, Nnoitra and Szayel.

The flames gradually disappeared, and the second they did, the demon turned to face Ichigo. "Oh, great, my turn?" he groaned and started running, trying his best to not give the monster an opportunity to trap him in a corner.

He grit his teeth when he realized it was faster than him. _Of course it was, it had six fucking legs!_ When it got a little too close for comfort, Ichigo used his speed boost and set a nice distance between them. The sword in the demon's hand didn't look like something you'd want to get hit by, and its range must've been huge, so he made sure not to give the monster the opportunity to hit him.

While the demon was chasing him, the rest of Hollow managed to drag it down to 58%. The demon stopped and turned back to Nnoitra, who gladly accepted the change. It raised the hand that was holding a staff, but it didn't do anything. Its damage had increased, though, as it now used both the sword and the axe on Nnoitra.

They kept up their work for about thirty seconds, then Aizen's voice called out over them. "Don't use any more magic! It drains the magic power to heal itself."

True enough, the mages' spells had already healed it for 5%. Ichigo sighed when he realized it was up to him, Grimmjow, Szayel, Starrk and Nnoitra to force the demon into the next phase, and they'd have to take at least 25% of its health away.

Ichigo had momentarily forgotten about the 11th division, but when he realized this phase was as good as made for them, who relied solely on strength, his anxiety started building again. He used all his important cooldowns except hollowfication, and his damage increased an admirable amount.

It took them five whole minutes to get into the next phase. The demon's second head started laughing again and raised its fourth and final arm. The weapon it held was a whip of some sort. It kept its attention on Nnoitra, now dealing almost 50% damage with each hit, but suddenly, the laughing face turned to Grimmjow, and it flickered the whip.

The long weapon rolled three times around Grimmjow's body, and when the demon tugged on the whip, Grimmjow was lifted off the ground and slammed into the wall.

"Grimmjow!" Ichigo exclaimed, momentarily forgetting none of this was real. The sight was brutal, and he couldn't bring himself to look when the demon swung the whip again, this time smashing Grimmjow onto the floor.

Grimmjow's health dropped to 8%, and neither of the healers could take their focus from Nnoitra long enough to heal him properly. They managed to raise his health to 45%, but if he took another one of those attacks, he'd die.

"Fucking ridiculous," Grimmjow snarled when he returned to Ichigo's side to continue the killing.

"That. Looked. Horrible!" Ichigo growled, each word timed with a punch of a kick. "This is more lifelike than usual, this tournament."

He could almost hear Grimmjow's wide grin, but he was too occupied to mind. The demon randomly selected a player from its surroundings and preformed the same attack on them, and soon six out of ten members of Hollow were fighting with less than half of their health remaining.

None too soon, it became Ichigo's turn. He watched, helplessly, as his character was vandalized, but at least he could do something about it. When the whip released its hold on him, he instantly used hollowfication. For each attack, his health regenerated by a little, and when it crumbled away, his health had been raised to 63%.

Of course, it wasn't much to celebrate, but Ichigo still grinned. The ability to heal himself left him feeling slightly superior, a feeling that quickly disappeared when the laughing demon head turned to him again, the malicious smile sending shivers down his spine.

"Fuck, you've _got_ to be kidding me!" he snapped and hastily backed away.

He cursed colorfully and prepared himself for the end, but just as the whip hand closed around his body, the demon stopped moving altogether. Confused, Ichigo carefully untied the weapon and stepped away from it.

He looked around at the other members, who all mimicked his confusion. "Anyone got any idea what just..." He interrupted himself when the wall to his right melted away.

An exact copy of the demon they were fighting was standing in the other room. It was almost like looking into a mirror. Except that the entire 11th division was sprawled out on the floor of the other room.

Hollow was teleported back to the dome before Ichigo could even begin to understand exactly what just happened. He glanced around in confusion, but the sight of a satisfied Grimmjow made him calm down a little.

"As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, Hollow are victorious of round three!" Ichigo looked at Ratchet. _Really?_ "It seems as the fourth face was more than the 11th division could handle, and sadly, the death of the entire guild means the victory goes to the surviving!"

_Oh right, he did say something about that. _Ichigo grinned and joined the rest of Hollow in waving at the audience. "Which means, Hollow proceeds into the semi-finals!"

"Shame," Ichigo said to no one in particular. "I would've wanted to see what the final phase was."

"You were about to get screwed over, Ichi," Shinji snorted, toothy grin in place. "You wouldn't have seen shit."

"Oi," Ichigo said and punched Shinji's shoulder. "I was kidding, don't be such a prick."

"Whatever you say, I-chi-go."

"All of you, listen up," Aizen interrupted Ichigo's sour retort. "The semi-finals won't be until tomorrow, so unless you want to stay and observe the rest of round three, you're free to go for today."

"Fuck yeah!" Shinji shouted and looked around. "Who's joining for drinks?"

"I sincerely hope you're not planning on attending the semi-finals drunk, Hirako," Aizen said, his smile turning cold. "That's something I'd not like to see. _Again_."

"Of course not," Shinji laughed, although embarrassment dusted his cheeks a slight pink color. "I meant a reasonable amount of alcohol, good company and good TV at my place."

"Sounds cool," Ichigo said and nodded. "Grimm, you coming?"

"A'course," Grimmjow said. "Be ready to go in ten."

"Ichi's got his own personal chauffeur, hm?" Shinji giggled, dancing from one foot to the other. "My, Ichi, what a _dame_ you are..."

"Shut up, Shin!" Ichigo's temper flared, and he offered Shinji his death glare. Of course, he might as well have said "Oh please, mess with me some more, Shinji-sama!".

"But you _are_..."

"I said, shut _up_, you little insect!" Ichigo took a few deep breaths and managed to direct a smile to Grimmjow. "See you in a bit, yeah?"

"Yeah."

**xxxxxxxxxx**

The day's ordeals had left Ichigo exhausted, and he had finally given in to his heavy eyelids and fallen asleep on Shinji's couch. While the others thought it would've been _very_ funny to draw lines all over his face with a permanent marker, Grimmjow, being the gentleman he was, had threatened to slit the throat of the first one who even picked up a pencil.

Ichigo had slept for about thirty minutes when he jolted awake, remembering that his sisters were probably still home alone. He stumbled towards the door, lazily raising his hand in farewell, and almost tripping down the stairs.

Not until he was out in the cool midnight air did he realize Grimmjow had followed him. "I'll be okay," he mumbled and rubbed his sleep-deprived eyes. "'S fine, I can go alone."

"Like hell ya can, ya look like yer gonna fall asleep any moment," Grimmjow said and grabbed his arm. "I'm taking ya home."

He started walking down the street, practically dragging Ichigo along. "Objection," Ichigo said, remembering the line from some TV-show they'd watched before he'd fallen asleep. "I object."

"Objection overruled," Grimmjow snorted. "Now shut up and walk properly, yeah?"

Ichigo muttered something inaudible, but straightened his back enough to walk. All the while, he leaned against Grimmjow's shoulder, a feeling of comfort and warmth making him sigh in content.

It didn't take them more than fifteen minutes to get to Ichigo's house. The lights were out, so Ichigo figured the twins were already asleep.

"Wanna stay over?" he mumbled, his voice a little quieter than usual.

Grimmjow looked at him with a surprised expression. "Didn't ya say yer sisters were home?"

"Yeah, they are," Ichigo said and rubbed his cheeks to cover his blush. "Just to sleep, I meant. The old man's away, and my sisters want to meet you anyways, so I just thought..."

A low chuckle rumbled through Grimmjow's teeth, and he bent down to lightly brush his lips over Ichigo's. "Just to sleep, then," he murmured.

Ichigo nodded and hurried to the door before his emotions made him reconsider his words. They soundlessly moved to his room, where Ichigo quickly changed into a pair of sweats and crawled under his blanket. Grimmjow followed right after, and Ichigo immediately snuggled closer, burying his face in the crook of Grimmjow's neck.

They lay quiet, Ichigo taking the time to listen to Grimmjow's steady heartbeat. The soothing calm that spread through Ichigo's body seemed to relax every single muscle, and he couldn't help but smile. "Grimm?" he mumbled softly.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for comin' here."

Ichigo could feel Grimmjow's smile against his forehead. "No problem, Ichi." Grimmjow's voice was like music to his ears. To be able to just lay like this, not interacting in any other way, to feel comfortable and relax in each others' arms, it was something Ichigo couldn't have imagined.

"Grimm?"

"Mm?"

He didn't even know if he actually uttered the following words. He only knew, wether spoken out loud or not, that they were true. And they had been true for a while already. His eyes fluttered close, and his last bit of consciousness left him at the same time as he spoke.

"I think I'm falling for you."

**xxxxxxxxxx**

AN; _D'aawww, ain't that a cute way to leave the story hangin'? Heh, I was gonna have him say the L-word, but "I'm falling for you" sounds way more cuter, right? Ah, now that I finished this chapter, I feel so re-inspired! All thanks to my reviewers, and I know I said it already, but I love all of ya!_

_Oh, and by the way, the attack Grimmjow uses against Big Beasty is "Desgarrón", which he (in the series) describes as his most powerful attack._

_Ciao, mia tesorini, ci vediamo!_


	12. Maze

**Just a game?**

**Chapter twelve – maze**

AN; _I think the roughest part of writing is the beginning of chapters. At least for me. I know very well what the chapter's gonna consist of, but the beginning, the _introduction_ to the chapter is just... geh._

**xxxxxxxxxx**

It had been a while since Ichigo had felt so relaxed. He'd just woken up to the sun shining at his face, but despite the early hour, he felt like he'd been sleeping for an entire day. He kept his eyes shut and let a sigh of content escape his lips.

His back was pressed up against Grimmjow's chest. Grimmjow's arms were tied around Ichigo, who smiled and snuggled as close to Grimmjow as physically possible. A comfortable warmth spread through Ichigo's body and all the way to his toes. He searched his mind for a bit, but no word could describe the feeling he experienced right now.

Yesterday had been quite eventful, although not so much in real life. Ichigo was looking forward to today's continuation of the tournament. _The semi-finals._ A light shudder of excitement traveled down his spine.

Ichigo opened his eyes just a little. He couldn't see his clock from this position, but judging from the position of the sun, he figured it was still quite early. He turned his head just barely and noticed Grimmjow had buried his face in Ichigo's hair. The slow breaths, the heartbeats against Ichigo's shoulder, everything about Grimmjow made the smile on Ichigo's face threaten to set permanently.

Grimmjow really acted like a model boyfriend, always being there even when Ichigo didn't need anything. Always defending him, taking care of him. And last night, he'd even agreed to stay over, just to sleep. Not many young couples could..._ Wait._

_Last night..._

"_I think I'm falling for you."_

Ichigo's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline and he slightly parted his lips. _Oh, crap._ He'd been so tired, exhausted, and just before falling asleep... _Or.._. Had he actually said anything? Or was it just something he'd _wanted_ to say, but not actually said? And if he'd actually said it, had he really been such an ass to fall asleep straight after?

Feeling his throat starting to dry, he closed his mouth and started chewing on his bottom lip. After taking a few deep breaths, he closed his eyes again. He wasn't panicking nearly as much a he normally would. Sure, right now, his only worry was being the biggest prick in the world for falling asleep, but those words he'd said were true. And Ichigo probably would've said them sooner or later.

_But seriously, confessing and then falling asleep?_

Ichigo seized the assault on his lip and sighed. _Maybe I can just explain when he wakes up..._ Barely had those words crossed his mind when he felt Grimmjow's hands move over his chest, tracing his pectorals and collarbone.

"How did you know I was awake?" Ichigo mumbled, shivering slightly at the featherlight touches.

"How did ya know I knew ya were awake?" Grimmjow murmured right into Ichigo's ear.

Ichigo chuckled and reached behind his head to poke Grimmjow's forehead. "Because I _really_ like to believe you don't harass me when I'm asleep," he said.

He could feel Grimmjow's grin against the back of his head. "Yeah, ya just keep believing that, Ichi, and there won't be any problems."

Before Ichigo could even snort, Grimmjow raised from the mattress and hovered over him. Ichigo's eyes traveled over his upper body to his face, and when they reached Grimmjow's hair, a wide smile graced his lips. This early in the morning, Grimmjow's hair, which always stood up straight and in every direction, was even messier than usual.

Unable to help himself, Ichigo raised his arms and brushed a few strands away from Grimmjow's face. "Why do you look so good even with your hair in a mess?" he mumbled softly.

The grin on Grimmjow's face grew wider. "It's a gift," he said and lowered his lips to Ichigo's. Feeling a bit provocative, Ichigo instantly pushed his tongue into Grimmjow mouth. He knew he'd always lose the battle for dominance, but trying was always fun.

Grimmjow responded quickly, and Ichigo could feel his entire body heat up. He angled his head to allow Grimmjow better access and moaned quietly into the kiss. His hands left Grimmjow's hair and slid past his shoulders to his back. Ichigo applied slight pressure with his palms, knowing the blue-haired beast would take it as a signal to go on.

True enough, Grimmjow's lips left Ichigo's and settled on his neck instead. Ichigo shivered when Grimmjow's teeth grazed his collarbone, and he really had to focus to not make any loud sounds; his sisters were still in the building.

"Hey, Grimm," he said shakily.

Grimmjow only grunted in return, not interrupting his work on Ichigo's upper body. Ichigo chuckled, a sound that turned into a moan when Grimmjow's lips latched on to the nape of his neck and started sucking.

"I... I think I should say something about-"

_Klick._

Ichigo's entire body became rigid. _No, no, no..._ Grimmjow face came into his line of sight, his brows slightly creased.

"What's wrong, Ichi?" he asked, but Ichigo pressed a finger to his lips and shook his head.

_Thump, thump, thump._

Ichigo's nerves jolted into action and he sat up straight so suddenly he smashed his forehead into Grimmjow's chin. "Ow, shit!" he hissed, the throbbing pain making his eyes water. "No time, Grimm, get up."

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow at him as he rubbed his reddening chin. "What?"

_Thump, thump, thump._

"Seriously, get up and get some pants on, or this is gonna turn into a real hellhole!"

"What're ya-"

Before Grimmjow could finish his sentence, the door flew open with the speed and force of a rocket ship. "Gooood morning, Ichigo, my son!"

Ichigo could feel Grimmjow freeze above him, and he found it completely understandable. He twisted his head to see his father stand in the doorway, arms raised and ready to hug the life out of someone, a quickly faltering smile on his lips.

"D-dad," Ichigo started, but he had no idea what to say after that. Oh, how this must look in his father's eyes; a stranger, wearing nothing but boxers, hovering over his one and only son who, even he, wasn't wearing anything to cover his upper body.

"What's going on?"

Ichigo felt his heart sink to his stomach. Yuzu and Karin moved past a petrified Isshin and stood completely silent for a few seconds, fully taking in the scene presented to them. Then, Yuzu squealed and hid her face in her hands while Karin started laughing. She grabbed the door-handle to keep from toppling over, she was laughing so hard.

"My Ichigo..." Isshin sounded like he was on the verge of tears. "My son, all grown up... Masakiiii!" His voice escalated into a shout, and he ran out of sight, most likely to throw himself at the portrait of Ichigo's mother.

The sight made Karin laugh even harder. "Oh, Ichi-nii," she said between laughs. "I wanted you to introduce him to us, but _this_ is taking it a step too far, don't you think?"

"Would you mind giving us a minute?" Ichigo hissed through gritted teeth, his face practically scorching.

Still laughing, Karin pushed Yuzu out of the room and closed the door behind her. Ichigo sighed and rubbed his sore forehead. "Grimm, I'm _so_ sorry about that," he said and looked up at Grimmjow, who still seemed to shocked to talk. "They're not dangerous, just seriously weird, I swear."

"_This_ is yer family?" Grimmjow said in disbelief. "I always thought yer family would be strict and without humor, because yer all about studying." He grinned down at Ichigo, who rolled his eyes.

"Disappointed?" Ichigo sighed and pushed him off the bed.

"Nah, they seem easy enough to win over," Grimmjow said and slipped into his jeans. "Nice people usually are."

"Don't call them nice before you get to know them," Ichigo snorted and rummaged through his drawers for a shirt. "And when my old man starts interrogating you, leave the jokes aside, because he _will_ take everything you say seriously."

Grimmjow just shook his head and pulled his shirt over his head. "I'm always serious," he said and quickly pecked Ichigo on the lips before heading for the door. "Ya ready?"

"That's my line, stupid," Ichigo said and walked out of the room first.

The living room was dead silent as they entered. Ichigo stopped in the doorway to shoot a warning glare at his father and sisters, who all sat around the dinner table. Isshin was clenching a handkerchief, Yuzu was once again looking for anything to stare at except her brother. Karin, on the other hand, seemed very pleased with the situation. She was leaning back in her chair, hands tied behind her head.

"So," Ichigo said when he and Grimmjow had sat down. "I... this is Grimmjow Jaegerjaques. My boyfriend." The word alone made him blush, and he mentally slapped himself for acting like a teenage school-girl.

"Jaegerjaques?" Karin wondered and looked at Grimmjow like she tried to x-ray him with only her eyes. "That's an unusual name."

"I'm half german," Grimmjow said. "My old man's from Germany."

"Cool." Karin smiled and opened her mouth to ask more questions, but Isshin interrupted her.

"Let papa handle this, my sweet little Karin," he said shakily and blew his nose in his handkerchief. Karin's left eyebrow twitched, and she looked like she wanted to punch her father in the face, but she fell silent. "So, mr Jaegerjaques," Isshin said and set his eyes on Grimmjow. "What exactly do you want with my son?"

Ichigo clenched the edge of the table so hard his fingers almost broke through the thin wood. He stared down at his knees while trying his best to sit still, to ignore the overwhelming impulse to elbow his old man in the face.

"Tricky question," Grimmjow said, and Ichigo's mouth went dry when he heard the amused undertone in his voice. "I want to keep dating him, seeing as being near him makes my days brighter. And please, call me Grimmjow," he added with a small smile.

Ichigo wanted to face-palm. _No way a corny comment like that would work. _He glanced at Isshin and groaned when he saw his father's eyes glisten like he was looking at an angel. Yuzu finally seemed to dare to look at Grimmjow, even she with sparkling eyes. Karin, just like Ichigo, seemed to have a tough time keeping her mouth shut.

"Alright, Grimmjow," Isshin went on, once again sounding very strict and adult-like. "What exactly are your feelings for my son?"

All air seemed to leave Ichigo's lungs. His mind took him back to last night, to the words he'd spoken, and he wondered how Grimmjow had reacted. He couldn't look at Grimmjow, so he kept staring down at his lap.

"I'm sorry, mr Kurosaki, but before I've properly talked these things through with Ichi, I don't think I can answer yer question."

Instantly, Ichigo forgot all his tension and looked at Grimmjow, who grinned back at him. Ichigo felt his blush spread all the way to his ears and neck, but those otherworldly blue eyes held his gaze like a prisoner. Not until Isshin spoke up again did he look away.

"So you don't just want him for sex?"

"Dad!" Ichigo slammed his hands to the table and stood up from his chair. "What the hell, old man!?" he hissed, glaring daggers at his father, who obviously couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into tears.

"Masakiiii!" Isshin cried and hid his face in his sleeve as he stood up. "Ichigo got mad at meeee!"

He ran out of the room, leaving an eerie silence behind. Ichigo inhaled deeply a few times before finally feeling calm enough to sit down. "I'm really sorry," he mumbled and faced Grimmjow. "I mean, I expected that to happen, but I didn't really..."

"It's okay, Ichi," Grimmjow said and ruffled his hair. "Watching ya get all worked up is fun, so I don't mind."

"Asshole," Ichigo muttered and leaned back in his chair.

Grimmjow laughed, and so did Karin. They seemed to share an understanding; teasing Ichigo was fun. Ichigo ignored them both and looked at Yuzu, who had stood up. She seemed very unsure, clutching to the front of her shirt.

"M-mr Grimmjow," she said, squirming slightly when Grimmjow looked at her. "W-would you like some t-tea?"

Grimmjow offered her a soft smile, one Ichigo had only seen a few times before, when Grimmjow looked at Neliel._ Aaaw._ "It's Yuzu, right?" he asked, and Yuzu nodded. "Yeah, some tea'd be great."

Yuzu smiled happily and scurried off to the kitchen. "See, I told you he was all fluffy on the inside," Ichigo said and rested his head in his hand.

"What we saw in the bedroom really didn't look like 'fluff', Ichi-nii," Karin said smugly and crossed her arms.

Grimmjow released a barking laughter. "I like this girl," he said when he sobered up.

"How can you talk like that, Karin?" Ichigo groaned.

"I'm 15, I can talk however I like," she snorted just as Yuzu set down a cup of tea in front of her. "Speaking of which..." She took a long sip of her tea to create a dramatical effect for her words. When she placed down her cup, she looked very serious.

"Ichi-nii doesn't have any brothers, so it's up to me to say this," she said and stood up. She walked around the table and leaned closer to Grimmjow. "If you _ever_ hurt my brother, in any way, I'll hunt you down and beat you 'til you can't even remember your own name."

Ichigo sighed and banged his forehead onto the table. "Karin," he hissed, but no one payed him any attention.

"Don't worry," Grimmjow said, his voice oddly serious. "I'd never do anything to deliberately hurt the man I love."

Yuzu gasped, Karin's mouth fell open, and Ichigo sat up straight so fast his chair toppled over and he fell backwards, painfully hitting the back of his head to the floor. Trying his best to ignore the pain, he jumped to his feet and grabbed the hem of Grimmjow's shirt.

"What did you just say?" he breathed out, eyes steadily locked with Grimmjow's. "Did you say..."

"That I love ya?" Grimmjow filled in, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. "Yeah, I know I should've said it to ya first, especially since I told yer dad that, but the moment seemed right, and-"

Ichigo cut him off by crashing their lips together, completely ignoring his sisters' presence. He didn't even notice when his father re-entered the room only to start bawling and run off again.

Not until he was forced to get some air did he pull pack. He rested his forehead against Grimmjow's, and even though he could feel the blood pumping under his cheeks, he swallowed thickly and looked Grimmjow straight in the eyes. "I do, too. I really love you, Grimm."

Grimmjow raised his arms and gently grabbed Ichigo's cheeks. "I know," he murmured against Ichigo's lips.

"Get a room, you two!" Karin said, but Yuzu shushed her. She was staring at her brother with the face of someone watching an emotional and romantic scene in some cheesy chick-flick.

"Thanks, I'd very much _like_ to get a room, but no matter where we go, we'll most likely be interrupted," Ichigo seethed and left Grimmjow's side to violently ruffle Karin's hair. "You and the old man would still find a way to disturb us, wouldn't you?"

"Hey!" Karin squirmed out of Ichigo's hold and straightened her back. "Don't put me on the same level as old goat face!"

"Then don't act like him," Ichigo huffed. That left Karin sulking, and Ichigo grabbed the opportunity to turn to Grimmjow. "I think you'd better get going," he said. "We'll have to be online in an hour."

"Right." Grimmjow stood up and nodded in Yuzu's direction. "Thanks for the tea, Yuzu." She giggled like a child and waved at him.

When he passed Karin, he casually lifted his right hand, and Karin wasted no time in high-fiveing him. Although the scene could be seen as adorable, Ichigo mostly feared this newfound connection between his boyfriend and his sister. _Trouble, trouble, trouble..._

When they reached the door, Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Grimmjow with a slightly displeased expression. "You know, I want them to get to know _you_, not this cliché guy with cheesy lines like 'making my days brighter'," he said.

"And they will," Grimmjow said, the soft smile replaced by his trademark shit-eating grin. "Gotta butter them up first, get them to think I'm all lovable, then I can act normal around them."

"You don't have to go through so much effort," Ichigo said and shrugged. "I think they'd like you just fine as you are."

"Aw, don't make e blush, Ichi," Grimmjow teased and opened the front door, and just as Ichigo was about to say goodbye, Grimmjow tugged him forward by the hem of his shirt and kissed him.

After what seemed like hours, Grimmjow pulled back. They stood still, faces only an inch from each other. Sounding slightly our of breath, Grimmjow mumbled, "Love ya, Ichi."

Ichigo blushed furiously, but he smiled and brushed a few strands of hair away from Grimmjow's face. "Love you too," he said and softly pressed his lips against Grimmjow's before backing into the house and closing the door behind him.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

"So far, this has been a most exciting tournament, ladies and gentlemen, but we're not nearly done yet!" Ratchet seemed even more enthused than the crowd. He danced around in front of Hollow, Shinigami and Quincy as he narrated, seemingly unable to stay still for even a second. "First, we witnessed Hollow triumph over the 11th division..." A few brief clips of the timed challenge flashed over the big screen, showing Nnoitra chasing after the giant demon, and Starrk's silver wolves.

"After that, Shinigami took down Ryoka..." The stage on which this battle had taken place was slightly different, but the point remained the same. Ichigo watched Shinigami kill their boss in only seven minutes, while Ryoka only got half way in that time.

"And finally, Quincy beat El Directo!" With rising confidence, Ichigo observed Ishida's every move. Sure, he was fast and skilled, but Ichigo could spot a few openings where he could possibly land a hit or two.

"And so, the semi-finals begin!" The entire crowd was silent, and Ichigo thought they had finally screamed until their lungs had broke, but they seemed to be holding their breath to not miss even a single word from Ratchet. "This year we're doing something special. There are three semi-finalists, and we're going to place them all in a maze!"

A huge labyrinth appeared on the screen, a maze made of hedges and stonewalls. The walls were almost ten feet high, and just looking at the winding roads made Ichigo's head spin. Monsters wandered here and there on the narrow roads, and Ichigo could see there were also traps placed all over the ground.

"The rules are very simple; the guild who first loses all of its members, loses the challenge and will end up as number three of the World's best guilds! The remaining two will move on to the finals!" The crowd found their voices again and clapped their hands as the three guilds were teleported into the maze.

The 'loading' screen came and went, and Ichigo found himself standing in an opening in the middle of the maze. He twisted his head around and noticed there were four possible ways to go from here on, which could only mean one thing.

"Looks like we're splitting up again," Aizen said and sighed. "Alright, I'm confident enough to move on my own, but I think it's best if I take someone with me so... Szayel, you'll come with me to the north. Starrk, Nel, you'll travel south, Gin, Hallibel and Nnoitra to the east, and Grimmjow, Ichigo and Shinji to the west."

They lined up in their assigned groups. "If you run into group of enemies that you're unsure you can handle, send an instant message to the rest of the guild. Do not engage either of the enemy guild leaders. Fight only if you're confident you can win. Understand?"

They all nodded just as the canon signaled the start of the stage. "Good luck," Aizen said and disappeared into the north opening.

"Why am I always stuck with you two?" Shinji grumbled when Nnoitra's group headed towards the east opening.

"You tell me," Ichigo snapped and pointed at their path. "Stop whining and let's go."

"Yeah, quit bitching, Shin," Grimmjow said. "Save that fer Nnoitra and the bedroom."

"Up yours, fuck face."

Grimmjow and Shinji kept bickering all the way to the first crossroad. They had three options; straight, left or right. Ichigo glanced over his shoulder. "I think we should go straight," he said. "That way we decrease the possibility of running into another group from Hollow."

The two others nodded, and so they trotted further west. Their path seemed to be empty of monsters, but that only made Ichigo even more nervous. He kept twisting his head back and forth, trying to spot something out of the ordinary.

"Stop it, Ichi!" Shinji exclaimed after five minutes' silence. "You're driving me nuts!"

"I can't help it!" Ichigo shot back. "It's weird, there should be traps and monsters all around this place."

"Well, then we probably took the right path," Grimmjow said. "Ah, listen..."

A flash, a bang, and a distant scream informed them the battle had begun. Ichigo, feeling quite insecure, opened the guild chat and wrote _"Was that anyone from Hollow?"_. They kept walking under silence, listening intently for even the smallest of sounds.

The reply came from Aizen two minutes later; _"Yes, we ran into an archer and a mage from Quincy, but no need to worry. We killed the archer, and the mage fled."_

Ichigo inhaled sharply, his nerves constantly on the edge. His palms were sweaty, but he didn't dare remove his hands from the keyboard long enough to wipe them off. The lack of monsters made him restless, and soon he found himself hoping to run into someone from either Quincy or Shinigami.

A sudden crack behind them almost made Ichigo jump out of his skin. He whirled around and found himself staring at a spider, an enormous spider with eight, milky white eyes, furiously clicking jaws and eight, long hairy legs.

"Satisfied now, Ichi?" Shinji groaned and blasted a fireball straight in the spider's face.

It didn't do that much damage, but the spider turned towards Shinji and started moving towards him. Shinji, who had nowhere to run, started sending firebolt after firebolt at the spider, making it stop and shriek while trying to turn its face away from the scorching heat.

Ichigo and Grimmjow took the opportunity to attack it from the behind, landing hit after hit on its exposed back. It worked fairly well, until the spider started producing large jets of sticky web. In a matter of seconds, Ichigo and Grimmjow found themselves helplessly tied to the ground.

"C'mon, guys, there's not really anywhere for me to run, and as a mage, I can't take that many physical hits," Shinji shouted when the spider drew closer to him.

Ichigo tried to rip off the web, but it only resulted in his hands being entangled as well. He glanced at Grimmjow, who in his panther form seemed to have even more trouble. All four of his paws were tied down, so there was not much he could do but squirm.

A sudden idea hit Ichigo and he straightened up as much as he could. "Shinji! Can you get over here and burn these things away?"

Shinji nodded and drew a quick symbol in the air, covering the spider's legs with a thin layer of ice. It slowed the beast down for a few seconds, allowing Shinji to dance right past it. "Gotta do _everything_ myself, don't I?" he mumbled when he crouched down in front of them and started melting the web.

"Stop complaining," Grimmjow snarled and leaped at the spider the second his legs were freed. "Aim fer its eyes, but not too close to the jaws, that triggers the web shot!"

"Easier done than said," Shinji jingled and aimed a perfect fireball in the center of the spider's many eyes. Once again, it turned away, and Ichigo grabbed that opportunity to take a hold of one of its hind legs and pull as hard as he could.

With a nasty _crunch_, the leg was ripped straight off of the spider's body. A repulsive, green mass gushed out of the wound, and Ichigo quickly jumped back into the hedge to avoid touching it.

"Go for the legs, they break easily!" He had to shout to be heard over the shrieks of the spider. Grimmjow and Shinji immediately obeyed, and they managed to take down the spider after only two minutes.

"Well, that was fun," Ichigo said sarcastically and poked at the dead insect.

"How was that in any way _fun_?" Shinji snapped and smacked Ichigo in the head with his staff. "I lost almost 10% of my mana on a petty monster."

"How come you lost so much mana if the monster was so petty?" Ichigo retorted coolly. He was starting to get tired of Shinji's complaints.

"Because the two of you were-"

"Shut it!"

Both Ichigo and Shinji looked at Grimmjow with surprise. "I think I hear footsteps," he said and sniffed in the air. "Yeah, something's definitely heading this way."

"Maybe it's another spider, coming to look why his wife is taking so long to get dinner?" Shinji mumbled, quietly enough so Grimmjow wouldn't hear.

Ichigo assumed a defensive stance and braced himself for the next attack. He could hear them now, too. The footsteps sounded like it was only one person. _Oh god, don't let it be Komamura..._

When the owner of the footsteps came into their line of sight, Ichigo quickly placed himself between Grimmjow and the newcomer. A mask covered his face, but it didn't take much for Ichigo to recognize that bright red hair, set up in a pineapple-like pigtail. "Renji..?" Ichigo mumbled, and the warrior from Shinigami stopped. He reached up a hand and pushed the mask back from his eyes, confirming Ichigo's assumptions.

"Holy shit, you're a part of Shinigami?" Ichigo said, not completely dropping his guard. Either way, Renji was now an enemy.

Renji said something Ichigo couldn't understand, and it took him a while to remember that members from opposite factions couldn't communicate. Ichigo tilted his head to show he didn't understand, and Renji fell silent.

After a while, he took a few steps forward, hands raised above his head as if in defeat. Grimmjow started growling, and Ichigo instantly raised his fists. He eyed Renji's every move, but the warrior showed no sign of violence. On the contrary, when they were only a few feet away from each other, Renji reached out one of his hands towards Ichigo.

"I think... he wants us to team up," Ichigo mumbled, eyes still set on Renji. "I know him from school."

"No deal," Grimmjow snarled and tried to move past Ichigo. "He's an enemy."

"C'mon, he can't be thinking of killing us, or he wouldn't have come alone," Ichigo argued. "And if we team up with Shinigami and take down Quincy, we could kill him in the finals instead of now."

Grimmjow growled, but didn't say anything, so Ichigo looked at Shinji, who just shrugged. "It's up to you, Ichi," he said. "If it's really a team-up, we'll definitely get to the finals, but if this is a trap, we're all screwed thanks to you. No pressure," he added with a toothy grin.

Ichigo gave Renji a measuring stare before walking up to him and shaking his hand. "I'll keep an extra eye on him, okay?" he said and looked at Grimmjow. "I'm quite confident about my strength compared to his."

Grimmjow nodded and stalked past Renji. Ichigo quickly smiled at the red-head before opening up the guild chat again. _"This may sound odd, but the Shinigami have agreed to team up with us to fight the Quincy. One of my friends is in Shinigami, and he offered this."_

Protests came flying from every members, but Aizen's question was the only one that caught his eye. _"Are you sure they can be trusted?"_

A grin spread on Ichigo's lips as he typed the reply. _"I'm not sure how trustworthy they are, but as long as no one moves together with Komamura, I don't think we have that much to worry about either way. They won't engage you if you meet, and you won't have to kill them. We'll take down Quincy together, and then kill them all in the finals."_

The chat stilled, and Ichigo knew they were all waiting for a response from Aizen. Finally, after almost a minute, his message arrived. _"Alright. Keep your eyes open for any sign of betrayal, and let's make Kirge's head our goal."_

**xxxxxxxxxx**

AN; _Argh! I'm drowning in fluff from the first half of this chapter! Good god, that scene was only __going to be about 2-3 pages, but it ended up with 6. Sigh... and Grimmjow's acting like a "nice guy", how extremely OOC. Geh._

_I have a sad announcement to make! There won't be a chapter next week! I know I'm leaving it hanging on a sucky place, but I have a lot to do at school, so I'm very busy! Sorry, ya guys..._

_Ci vediamo, mia tesorini!_


End file.
